Chennai, India | 17th December 2025 – In 2025, Indian travel stopped following templates and started following intent.
According to new consumer insights released by Pickyourtrail, Indian travellers are moving away from fixed itineraries and pre-set packages. Instead, they are actively designing their holidays from scratch, changing dates, reshaping routes, and spending more when the experience feels personal, relevant, and worth it.
“We have never believed that a great holiday is something you simply pick and book,” said Hari Ganapathy, Co-founder and CEO, Pickyourtrail. “What we are seeing now is a clear shift towards crafted holiday experiences. Indian travellers are planning their finances better so they don’t have to compromise on travel, and are investing deeply in moments that matter to them. As we move into 2026, this demand for thoughtful, personalised, and human-backed holiday design will only grow stronger.”
Smart Value, Not Price-First
2025 proved that Indian travellers are not afraid to spend, but only when it matters. What’s changed is not the wallet, but the intent.
Up to 49% of travellers, depending on the destination, deliberately chose off-peak or shoulder weeks to optimise costs. By shifting travel dates, travellers saved up to ₹40,000 per trip in destinations like Maldives and Dubai, nearly ₹30,000 in Vietnam, and around ₹20,000 in Sri Lanka.
These savings were redirected into private transfers, hotel upgrades, premium activities, and comfort-driven choices.
Travel Without Compromise
In 2025, Indian travellers began planning earlier so they didn’t have to scale back their holidays. 53% of travellers booked their vacations well in advance, with 28% booking 60–90 days before departure and another 25% booking more than 90 days ahead, using early planning to manage costs and avoid last-minute trade-offs. Planning began even earlier, with 59% of travellers starting their travel planning over two months in advance, reflecting a more deliberate and confident approach to travel decisions.
This shift was accompanied by a 35–45% increase in average spend per trip over the last four years, signalling growing confidence and a clear prioritisation of travel. Instead of postponing or downsizing plans, travellers are planning ahead and committing more intentionally.
The Rise of the “Main Character” Traveller
In 2025, personalisation was not an add-on – it was the product. 1 in 5 trips saw five or more customisations before booking. Dates, cities, and hotels were the top changes — and they reflected ownership and control, not indecision.
Trips to Japan, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam–which required more detailed routing–saw higher satisfaction and lower cancellations. The message was clear: the more a traveller shapes their holiday, the more it feels like their story.
Vibe First, Destination Second
The mood led the plan. Not the map.
Holidays in 2025 were anchored in feelings — soft-life, celebration, reconnection — and the itinerary followed. From sunset cafés and spa days to art walks and wine tastings, the vibe was never incidental. It was the brief.
- Bengaluru and Chennai leaned into slow and scenic
- Delhi and Mumbai chased culture and buzz.
- And more Indians planned trips around food than ever before; a sign that experiences now take priority over landmarks.
This shift also shaped trip length. While the number of breaks increased, the average number of nights per trip saw a drop – short breaks with sharp intent replaced long, generic vacations.
And while some travelled for mood, others travelled for music. Events and concerts drove 4x more bookings than the year before — not as detours, but as the destination itself.
Memory Over Merchandise
Souvenirs were replaced by stories travellers made with their own hands – a pottery class in Bali, silver-making in Bali, matcha tastings in Kyoto, or letter-writing in Nuwara Eliya.
These memory-making activities weren’t booked last-minute. In 20-30% of the bookings done in 2025, they were requested right at the planning stage. Experience, not memorabilia, is what today’s traveller wants to carry home.
Luxury That Feels Like You
Not every big spender is after five-star everything. In fact, the most expensive trip booked on Pickyourtrail in 2025–a ₹29 lakh family vacation across Europe–was built not around opulence, but around bonding.
The trend was clear. Travellers spent meaningfully — a hot air balloon ride to mark a milestone, a private dinner to propose, a hotel upgrade for three generations to stay together. For the Indian traveller, luxury is no longer about showing off. It’s about showing up for moments that matter.
Southeast Asia: India’s New Travel Circuit
For the modern Indian traveller, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Bali have become what Delhi, Agra, and Jaipur once were — a golden triangle of sorts.
These were not one-off trips. Travellers returned, discovered new corners, combined familiar spots with new experiences. Japan, meanwhile, saw a surge in interest — emerging as the new Europe for long-haul holidays with culture, nature, and tech in equal parts.
Looking Ahead to 2026: What to Expect
As India steps into 2026, Pickyourtrail expects some big traveller behaviours to grow stronger:
- Personalisation Becomes Table Stakes – What felt like a differentiator in 2025 will become an expectation in 2026. Travellers will no longer accept fixed itineraries, seeking holidays that reflect their identity, pace, and intent by default.
- Value Becomes the New Luxury – Luxury in 2026 will be defined by how intentionally money is spent, not how much. Travellers will continue to optimise flights and dates to unlock premium moments, making smart value a status marker rather than a compromise.
- China Becomes the New Curiosity – With travel corridors reopening, China is set to emerge as a major draw for Indian travellers seeking culturally immersive experiences that feel unfamiliar yet deeply engaging.
- Slowing Down Becomes the New Escape – More Indians will choose holidays designed around rest rather than rush. Fewer cities, longer stays, and unhurried itineraries focused on downtime will define the next phase of travel.
- Luxury Meets the Mid-Life Reset – A younger cohort of Indian travellers will increasingly turn to luxury for reinvention rather than indulgence, giving rise to new experiences and specialised brands built around emotional milestones and life transitions.
For 2026, one thing is clear: Tailor-made isn’t a premium feature anymore. It’s the expectation.
