Pilgrimage and religious travel emerged as the leading purpose for domestic overnight trips (Photo: Incredible India)
Domestic tourism remained largely driven by pilgrimage and religious travel, while health, leisure and recreation also accounted for significant shares of overnight trips, according to the latest Domestic Tourism Expenditure Survey (DTES) 2025-26 released by the National Statistics Office (NSO), under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI).
In the report, NSO said the July 2025-June 2026 survey covered domestic overnight and same-day trips. Pilgrimage and religious travel accounted for 48 pc of overnight trips, followed by health and medical trips at 38.4 pc in rural areas and leisure travel at 36.4 pc in urban areas. Around 80 pc of visitors stayed five days or less, with an average trip group size of 2.03 visitors.
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The report highlights that bus was the leading mode of travel in rural areas, accounting for 32 pc of visitor-trips, while train was the most preferred mode among urban households, with a 35 pc share. Hotels and guesthouses accounted for the largest share of urban visitor-trips at 36 pc, while non-commercial accommodation was the leading choice in rural areas.
Uttar Pradesh accounted for the highest share of overnight visitor-trips at 15.7 pc, followed by Tamil Nadu at 13.4 pc and Rajasthan at 8 pc. Health and medical trips recorded the highest average expenditure among overnight trips, while transport accounted for the largest share of spending on holiday, leisure and recreation trips.
For overnight trips undertaken during the previous 30 days, social travel accounted for 89 pc of trips. Business trips recorded the highest average expenditure, at INR 5,179 in rural areas and INR 6,934 in urban areas.
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Same-day travel also remained significant, with 65.1 pc of rural households and 46.2 pc of urban households undertaking at least one same-day trip during the previous 30 days. Social and shopping were the most common purposes, while shopping accounted for the largest share of expenditure at 51 pc in rural areas and 41 pc in urban areas.
The survey covered 24,778 first-stage units and 246,113 households across India, including 142,603 rural and 103,510 urban households, providing detailed insights into domestic travel patterns and tourism expenditure during 2025 to 2026.
