India witnesses 21% rise in slow tourism in 2025: Thrillophilia Index

Domestic destinations Kerala (+19%) and Rajasthan (+17%) remained on top.

Indian leisure travel underwent a behavioural shift in 2025, with travellers increasingly choosing fewer destinations, longer stays and better-paced itineraries over rushed, checklist-style holidays, according to the Thrillophilia 2025 Multi-Day Travel Index.

The index, based on confirmed and completed multi-day trips, analyses how Indians travelled in 2025 compared with 2024. The findings point to a maturing leisure travel market, where travellers across budgets and age groups prioritised execution reliability, comfort and experience depth over destination count or discounts.

Speaking about the findings, Abhishek Daga, Co-Founder, Thrillophilia, said, “2025 was the year Indian travellers stopped asking how many places they could cover and started asking how well a trip would run. Across families, Gen Z, honeymooners and luxury travellers alike, we saw a clear preference for fewer destinations, slower pacing and customised itineraries. Peace of mind replaced price as the real definition of value.” 

Single-base itineraries with day excursions increased 36% year-on-year, while multi-city tours involving four or more stops declined 24%. The index recorded a 21% rise in slower, better-paced itineraries, while over-packed schedules declined 17%. Medium-length trips of 6–9 nights grew 19%, emerging as the most preferred format across families, couples and wellness travellers.

Customisation also became mainstream. Custom and semi-custom trips grew 18% and 16% respectively, while large group tours declined 21%, indicating a clear move away from fixed-format travel.

Domestic destinations continued to anchor multi-day leisure travel in 2025, particularly those that support slower pacing, diverse experiences and reliable logistics. Kerala (+19%) and Rajasthan (+17%) remained consistent favourites. At the same time, emerging regions saw strong growth. North East India (+31%), Kashmir (+35%) and Ladakh (+31%) recorded sharp increases in multi-day demand, driven by improved connectivity and rising interest in experience-led travel. Destinations offering predictable infrastructure, fewer transitions and strong hospitality ecosystems consistently outperformed, reinforcing the shift toward comfort-first trip design.

While domestic travel stayed strong, short-haul international destinations within seven hours of flight time recorded the fastest outbound growth. Countries such as Thailand (+21%), Singapore (+24%), Abu Dhabi (+36%), Vietnam (+31%) and the Philippines (+39%) benefited from visa ease, compact routing and high experience density.

Long-haul travel remained lower in volume but higher in intent. Destinations such as Japan (+39%), Kenya (+35%) and Iceland (+39%) saw growth driven by experience-led, milestone journeys rather than high-frequency travel.

The index highlights clear differences in how various traveller segments shaped demand.

Gen Z and young professionals showed the sharpest behavioural change. Multiple trips per year increased 51%, while short breaks of 4–6 nights grew 43%. Adventure-led itineraries rose 58%, and off-season travel increased 39%, driven by flexible work arrangements and experience-first preferences. Destinations such as Meghalaya (+46%), offbeat Himachal Pradesh (+41%) and Vietnam (+51%) resonated strongly with this cohort.

Families emerged as the most stable and fast-growing segment. Custom family itineraries grew 21%, comfort-first trips increased 19%, and rushed multi-city formats declined 18%. Advance planning rose 16%, with families consistently favouring destinations such as Rajasthan (+28%), Kerala (+31%), North East India (+42%) and Ladakh (+33%), where execution risk was lower.

Couples moved away from templated honeymoon packages. Custom honeymoon itineraries increased 47%, privacy-led stays rose 42%, and shorter “minimoons” of 5–7 nights grew 29%. Alongside established destinations such as Kerala and Bali, offbeat locations including Meghalaya (+44%) and Vietnam (+41%) gained traction.

Luxury travel in 2025 was defined less by extravagance and more by precision. Custom luxury itineraries grew 26%, while trips with fewer destinations increased 28%. Wellness-led multi-day travel rose 24%, with Kerala, Ladakh and Rajasthan leading domestically, and Japan (+33%), Kenya (+42%) and Italy (+27%) showing growth internationally.

Across segments and geographies, the index points to a consistent redefinition of value. Trips that were well-paced, clearly planned and reliably executed recorded higher conversion, fewer cancellations and stronger post-trip satisfaction.

The data has been compiled by Thrillophilia, using aggregated, anonymised information from executed multi-day leisure trips across India and international markets.