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Religious and pilgrimage travel has emerged as the leading reason for domestic overnight travel in India, accounting for 47.7% of overnight trips during the year from July 2025 to June 2026.
The finding comes from the Domestic Tourism Expenditure Survey (DTES) conducted by the National Statistical Office (NSO) under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI).
The survey shows that religious travel was ahead of other major purposes, including health and medical trips at 29.6% and holidaying, leisure and recreation at 22.1%. Religious travel was the leading category in both rural and urban India, accounting for 48.4% of rural overnight trips and 46.6% of urban overnight trips.
Religious Tourism Leads Domestic Travel
The findings highlight the important role of pilgrimage destinations in India's domestic tourism economy. The survey covered overnight trips taken outside people's usual environment and examined factors including travel purpose, transportation, accommodation and expenditure.
The government survey found that around 48 out of every 100 domestic overnight trips were undertaken for pilgrimage and religious purposes. The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation said the survey provides information on domestic travel patterns, including the duration of trips, modes of transport, accommodation and expenditure.
“Pilgrimage & Religious emerges as top purpose.” — Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation, Government of India
The survey also found differences between rural and urban travel patterns. In rural areas, health and medical travel was the second-largest category, representing 38.4% of overnight trips. In urban areas, holidaying, leisure and recreation ranked second, accounting for 36.4%.
Uttar Pradesh Leads Visitor Trips
The data also provides insight into where domestic travellers are going. When visitors travelling within their own state and those arriving from other states are combined, Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest share of visitor-trips at 15.7%. Tamil Nadu followed with 13.4%, while Rajasthan accounted for 8%.
The figures underline the importance of major religious and cultural destinations across these states. Cities and pilgrimage centres therefore remain an important part of India's domestic tourism network, supporting accommodation, transportation, food services, local businesses and other tourism-related activities.
Travel Patterns and Spending
The survey found that domestic overnight trips are generally relatively short. Around 80% of visitors stayed for five days or less, while the average trip size was 2.03 overnight visitors per trip.
Transportation preferences also differed between rural and urban travellers. Buses accounted for 32% of visitor-trips in rural areas, while trains accounted for 35% in urban areas. Among urban overnight visitors, hotels and guesthouses represented 36% of visitor-trips.
Health and medical trips recorded the highest average expenditure, at ₹29,454 in rural areas and ₹41,649 in urban areas. For holiday, leisure and recreation trips, transportation represented the largest expenditure component.
The DTES was conducted across India from July 2025 to June 2026, covering 2,46,113 households across rural and urban areas. The findings provide a detailed picture of how Indians are travelling domestically and show the significant role that religious tourism plays in India's overall travel landscape.
