Nearly 1 in 4 Travellers Took More Than One Festive Trip, Reveals Zostel Festive Travel Pulse 2026
India's festive season is no longer one holiday but a quarter-long run of short, spontaneous escapes.
Festive Travel on the Rise
- Nearly 1 in 4 travellers (23%) booked more than one trip between October and December 2025.
- Bookings for the 2026 festive season are already 50% higher than the same period last year.
- November bookings have increased by 43% year-on-year.
Short, Spontaneous Getaways
- The average festive trip lasted two nights.
- 30% of travellers booked on the day of check-in.
- 60% booked within three days, while 70% booked within a week.
Top Destinations
Most-booked destinations:
- Hampi
- Gokarna
- Varkala
- Rishikesh
- Jaipur
Fastest-Growing Destinations
- Sangla recorded three times more bookings than last year.
- Other high-growth destinations include:
- Kalpa (2.9x)
- Shangarh (2.8x)
- Chitkul (2.6x)
- Shoja (2.6x)
Traveller Profile
- Nearly 70% of travellers were under 30 years old.
- The 25-29 age group accounted for 44% of bookings.
- More than half of all bookings were solo travellers.
- Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Pune and Hyderabad were the leading source markets.
Peak Travel Periods
- The Christmas-New Year week was the busiest period.
- December 25 emerged as the busiest single check-in day, nearly 40% above the average.
- Dussehra-Gandhi Jayanti weekend drove October demand, while November saw steady weekend travel throughout the month.
Zostel's Observation
According to Zostel, India's festive season is increasingly evolving into a series of multiple short trips, with travellers opting for frequent weekend getaways rather than a single long holiday.
