Religious Travel Makes Up Almost Half Of Indians' Overnight Trips: Government Survey

Domestic overnight trips refer to travelling within a person's own country that involves staying away from their usual home for at least one night. Turns out, almost half of domestic overnight trips by Indians are for religious purposes. The National Statistics Office (NSO) conducted the Domestic Tourism Expenditure Survey (DTES) from July 2025 to June 2026 and found that out of 100 overnight trips, 48 are for 'pilgrimage and religious' purposes. The second-largest share in overnight trips was for 'health and medical' purposes in rural areas (38.4%) and 'holidaying, leisure and recreation' in urban areas (36.4%).

Overnight Trip Size And Duration

Average trip size was recorded as 2.03 overnight visitors per trip. Around 80 per cent of visitors preferred to stay for 5 days or less during their respective overnight trips.

Most Preferred Months For Overnight Trips

May and October were the peak months for domestic overnight trips undertaken for holidaying, leisure and recreation purposes during the last 365 days, the survey showed.

Uttar Pradesh Records Highest Visitor Trips

Combining visitors both from within the state and from other states, Uttar Pradesh accounted for the highest share in total visitor-trips (15.7%), followed by Tamil Nadu (13.4%) and Rajasthan (8.0%).

Also Read: Egypt, India, Saudi Arabia Remain Top Travel Choices For Middle Eastern Travellers

Choice Of Transport

• Bus was the dominant mode of travel for such trips by rural households (32% share)
• Trains were the most availed mode for travelling by urban households  (35% share)

Choice of Accommodation

Among urban overnight visitors, hotels and guesthouses were the most preferred type of stay (36%)

In rural areas, other non-commercial stays accounted for the largest share (28%). These include one's own vacation home (second home), temporary accommodation provided by employers, and free-of-charge accommodation provided by religious or missionary organisations.

Most Expensive Trips

According to the report, health & medical trips incurred maximum expenditure in both rural (Rs. 29,454) and urban (Rs. 41,649) areas.

Same Day Trips: Frequency And Purpose

A same-day trip is the opposite of an overnight trip. It involves taking a journey to a destination and back to your home (or starting point)within the same calendar day, without needing an overnight stay.

65.1 per cent rural households and 46.2 per cent urban households undertook at least one same-day trip during the last 30 days, according to the survey.

Also Read: 96 Per Cent Of Indian Travellers Would Change Plans Than Cancel Trips: Report

Social and Shopping Purposes

'Social' (33 per cent) and 'Shopping' (26 per cent) were the two most frequently undertaken same-day trips by households, with shopping accounting for the highest expenditure share in both rural and urban areas.

This survey covered the whole of the Indian Union, except the villages in Andaman and Nicobar Islands (which remain difficult to access throughout the year). The number of households surveyed was 2,46,113 (1,42,603 in rural areas and 1,03,510 in urban areas).