- India - Travel Dates : Dec 20, 2024 – Jan 15, 2025
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From Spiritual Journeys to Global Escapes: How India Travels This Winter
As the year draws to a close, Indian travelers are gearing up for their much-anticipated year-end vacations, with a mix of domestic and international destinations witnessing a surge in demand. A unique shift in travel preferences is unfolding, with religious tourism gaining traction among domestic travelers, while Dubai continues to dominate as the top outbound destination. Alongside traditional favorites like Paris, London, and New York, new destinations like Baku are making their mark, driven by improved connectivity and growing traveler interest.
This year, destinations such as Amritsar, Varanasi, and Mahabaleshwar are seeing an unprecedented increase in hotel bookings, reflecting a renewed focus on cultural and spiritual experiences. Meanwhile, internationally, Dubai leads the way, with emerging hotspots like Langkawi and Abu Dhabi joining the list of preferred destinations for Indian travelers. Let’s look at these trends closely.
Domestic Travelers Prefer Religious Tourism
Destinations Seeing More than 2X Increase |
Amritsar |
Belagavi |
Mahabaleshwar |
Udaipur |
Varanasi |
Source: Adara, a RateGain Company
Dubai Leads as the Outbound Destination
Dubai is the Indians’ most popular choice for outbound travel. The usual favorites Paris, London and New York follow next. Singapore, Abu Dhabi and Bangkok are the other destinations Indians have booked their hotels in.
Top Outbound Destinations
Dubai |
Paris |
London |
New York |
Singapore |
Abu Dhabi |
Bangkok |
Toronto |
Zurich |
Sydney |
Source: Adara, a RateGain Company
Baku is a New Favorite
With direct flight access to India, Baku has grown in popularity exponentially over a year, occupying its place among India’s top 15 outbound destinations this year. Other destinations that are experiencing similar popularity include Abu Dhabi and Langkawi.
About World on Holiday
World on Holiday is a real-time travel insights hub, powered by Adara, sharing important worldwide travel trends, as well as real-time booking and search data. This hub is powered by hundreds of first-party data sources, and are based on observed consumer activity.
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About Adara
About RateGain
RateGain is a global provider of SaaS solutions for travel and hospitality that works with 2800+ customers—including the Top 23 of 30 Hotel Chains, the Top 25 of 30 Online Travel Agents, and all the top car rentals including 8 Global Fortune500 companies—and 700+ partners in 100+ countries helping them accelerate revenue generation through acquisition, retention, and wallet share expansion.