Indian Travellers Reshape Holiday Experiences With Personalised, Value-Driven Approach In 2025

Indian travel behaviour in 2025 has marked a clear break from itinerary-driven holidays. New consumer insights from Pickyourtrail show travellers increasingly designing trips around personal taste, comfort, and value rather than fixed itineraries or lowest prices.

Smart Value Replaces Price-First Thinking

In 2025, spending more did not mean spending blindly. Travellers looked for ways to optimise spending where flexibility allowed.  Around 49 per cent of the travellers opted for off-peak weeks depending on the destination. This way, they saved up to Rs 40000 in destinations such as the Maldives and Dubai, Rs 30000 in Vietnam, and around Rs 20000 in Sri Lanka.

These cost savings were not considered as discounts. Rather, these savings were invested in improved hotels, transportation, and value-for-money add-ons. The trend indicates a shift from seeking cheaper holidays and towards getting more value out of them.

Advance Planning

Around 53 per cent of the respondents booked their holidays in advance. Of these, 28 per cent booked 60 to 90 days prior to departure, while another 25 per cent booked more than 90 days prior to travel. But apart from bookings, 59 per cent of the respondents started planning their holiday more than two months in advance.

This has allowed travellers to control their expenses and make their desired selections before settling on alternatives towards the end of their decision-making processes. Over the past four years, spending per trip has grown by 35-45 per cent on average.

Personalisation Becomes Central

Customisation is not an afterthought for travellers. One in five journeys experienced five or more modifications before finalisation. The most popular modifications were related to dates of travel, destinations, and finalised hotels. These modifications reflected not dilemmas but curated choices.

Destinations like Japan, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam reported higher levels of satisfaction and lower cancellations, particularly in those cases where more extensive planning was required. This trend highlighted that the more ownership the planner possessed over the planning, the more committed they were to making the trip successful.

Mood and Experiences Influence Decisions

In 2025, travel behaviour was driven by mood, not by destination. The purpose of travel was rest, celebration, cuisine, music, or reunion, and travel was planned around mood, not by popular sightseeing spots.

There was also a change seen in city-level preferences. Bengaluru and Chennai showed a preference for slow and scenic travel, while Delhi and Mumbai showed a preference for culture and high pace. A mix of food and travel has emerged, and people have started taking more trips centred around local cuisine.

Experiences Replace Souvenirs

Activities which create memories replaced shopping for souvenirs. In 20-30 per cent of cases, consumers prefer workshops and hands-on experiences when booking a vacation. This indicated an interest in experiences like cooking workshops and artistic experiences.

Luxury, on the other hand, was defined more by meaning and less by stars and ratings. For example, even luxury trips were all about bonding, celebrating milestones, and experiences. Spending was directed towards creating moments, rather than on visible extravagance.