NEW DELHI: Pilgrimage and religious travel accounted for 48% of domestic overnight trips in India in 2025-26, making it the largest reported travel purpose, while health and medical trips cost households more than four times as much per trip.
The average pilgrimage trip cost Rs 7,694 against Rs 32,167 for health and medical travel, according to the latest Domestic Tourism Expenditure Survey released by the National Statistical Office.
The survey, covering July 2025 to June 2026 under the NSS 80th round, collected data from 2,46,113 households across 24,778 first-stage units. Pilgrimage and religious travel had the highest share of overnight trips in both rural and urban areas. Health and medical travel accounted for 38.4% of rural trips, while holiday, leisure and recreation accounted for 36.4% of urban trips.
The spending pattern differed sharply. Health and medical trips averaged Rs 29,454 in rural areas and Rs 41,649 in urban areas, while shopping trips averaged Rs 18,981 and holiday, leisure and recreation trips Rs 11,723. Medical expenses alone averaged Rs 23,361 per health-related trip.
Frequency of travel also varied between rural and urban households. Rural tourist households made 127 overnight trips per 100 households during the year, compared with 132 urban areas. About 80% of visitors stayed for five days or less. Buses accounted for 32% of rural visitor-trips, while trains were the most-used mode of transport among urban visitors at 35%.
Uttar Pradesh accounted for the largest share of visitor-trips at 15.7%, followed by Tamil Nadu at 13.4% and Rajasthan at 8%. For overnight trips during the previous 30 days, Uttar Pradesh again led at 15.5%, followed by Bihar at 10.5% and Tamil Nadu at 9.6%.
The expenditure gap has widened since the previous comparable survey. Average health and medical trip expenditure rose from Rs 15,336 in 2014-15 to Rs 32,167 in 2025-26, while shopping expenditure increased from Rs 13,902 to Rs 18,981 and holiday, leisure and recreation expenditure from Rs 6,358 to Rs 11,723.
The survey, designed partly to give expenditure data for Tourism Satellite Account, shows the volume of domestic travel and its economic value do not necessarily move together. Pilgrimage generates the largest overnight journeys, while medical travel carries highest average spending per trip.