Festive Travel Soars 18% as Thrillophilia Releases ‘Festive Travel Pulse 2025’
Jaipur: India’s leading experiential travel platform, Thrillophilia, has released its highly anticipated Festive Travel Pulse 2025, offering key insights into how Indian travellers are planning their holidays between Navratri and Diwali. Based on over 4.2 million user visits, the report reveals an 18% year-on-year surge in overall festive travel demand, with international outbound bookings up by 24%.
The report highlights a strong shift towards short-haul international travel in the Asia-Pacific region, as Indian travellers increasingly favour 4–6 night “smart luxury” escapes over long intercontinental holidays. Destinations like Dubai (16%), Thailand (15%), Singapore (14%), Vietnam (10%), and Bali (8%) top the charts. Hong Kong has also seen a strong resurgence, with a 25% YoY increase, driven by attractions like Disneyland and its vibrant night culture.
Within India, the most popular domestic destinations include Jaipur–Udaipur–Jaisalmer (16%), Himachal and Uttarakhand hill circuits (12%), Goa (10%), and Kerala (9%). A post-Navratri spike in Gujarat has also been observed, with many families combining festive travel with nearby getaways.
A key trend shaping 2025 travel is the rise of “smart luxury”—curated experiences and premium stays without high-end pricing. Travellers are opting for boutique hotels, skip-the-line passes, and high-value experiences like desert safaris in Dubai, bay cruises in Singapore, and ziplines in Vietnam. The average spend is ₹25,000–45,000 for domestic trips and ₹60,000–95,000 for international getaways, with booking lead times shrinking to just 9–12 days.
Interestingly, offbeat Indian destinations are quietly rising in popularity. Places like Gandikota (AP), Pachmarhi (MP), Hampi (Karnataka), Binsar (Uttarakhand), and the Meghalaya–Ziro belt are gaining traction as crowd-free, culture-rich escapes. On the ultra-luxury end, destinations like Tanzania and Botswana are seeing growth in demand for African lodge safaris, with packages ranging between ₹1.6 to ₹2.5 lakh per person.
Speaking on the trends, Abhishek Daga, Co-founder of Thrillophilia, said,“This festive season, Indian travellers are redefining holidays as curated, meaningful escapes. The growing preference for smart luxury and offbeat destinations shows that travellers are looking for both value and uniqueness in their experiences.”
With Diwali still ahead, Thrillophilia expects last-minute bookings to drive another spike in travel demand. The platform projects that short-haul internationa