Travel Watch: Festive travel picks up pace as nearly 1 in 4 travellers book multiple trips

Zostel reports festive bookings up 50% for 2026, with young travellers favouring solo stays, short breaks and rising Himalayan destinations.

India’s festive season is turning into an excuse for multiple getaways rather than one annual holiday. Nearly one in four Zostel travellers booked more than once between October and December 2025, while bookings for the final quarter of 2026 are already around 50% ahead of last year, according to the Zostel Festive Travel Pulse 2026.

Released on October 9, the report draws on booking data to track travel patterns from Navratri and Durga Puja to Diwali, Christmas and New Year. November bookings are already up 43% compared with the same point last year, suggesting that travellers are making room for more breaks during the festive period.

Short breaks and last-minute plans

The average festive stay lasted just two nights, with spontaneous bookings shaping travel plans. Three in ten travellers booked on the day of check-in, six in ten made reservations within three days, and seven in ten booked within a week. Fewer than one in ten planned their trips more than a month ahead.

For travellers looking to escape routine without taking extended leave, frequent weekend breaks appear to be the preferred option.

Hampi leads as Himalayan destinations gain ground

Destination	Growth in bookings
Sangla	3 times last year
Kalpa	2.9 times
Shangarh	2.8 times
Chitkul	2.6 times
Shoja	2.6 times

View All

The figures compare bookings made so far for October to December 2026 with bookings at the same point last year.

Young travellers are choosing solo stays

Nearly seven in ten festive travellers were under 30, with the 25 to 29 age group accounting for 44% of guests. Solo bookings made up more than half of all reservations, while three in ten bookings were for pairs and one in seven involved groups of three or more.

Women accounted for more than one in five guests. Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Pune and Hyderabad were the leading source cities.

December remains the busiest period

Last year's Dussehra and Gandhi Jayanti long weekend marked October's peak. November had no single major spike, with Saturdays consistently drawing bookings. The Christmas and New Year week was the busiest period of the quarter, and December 25 recorded nearly 40% more check-ins than an average day. Zo Trips, the group's travel experiences business, hosted more than 1,500 travellers across 116 batches during the festive quarter.

Dharamveer Singh Chouhan, co-founder of Zostel and Zo World and Group CEO of Zo World, said, “The festive season is not one trip anymore. It is a season of trips. Three out of ten festive travellers at Zostel book on the same day they check in. Nobody is planning Diwali in August. They finish work, pick a place, and leave.”

He added that repeat bookings and rising demand for destinations such as Sangla, Kalpa and Shangarh point to a shift towards several short breaks across the three-month festive period.

The report's traveller behaviour figures are based on the October to December 2025 season, while destination rankings and booking growth reflect the 2026 festive season so far.