India's travel boom gets luxe: Early bookings, smart spends, big getaways

Premium stays, early planning, and value deals define Indian travellers' festive bookings, finds MakeMyTrip

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India’s festival travel season appears to have taken off in style. According to early data from MakeMyTrip’s inaugural ‘Travel Ka Muhurat’ campaign, which ran from October 29 to November 3, travellers are booking in advance, exploring wider destinations, and increasingly opting for premium stays, without losing sight of value.

 

The platform’s insights, released by MakeMyTrip on November 4, reflect a growing sophistication in India’s travel behaviour as more people plan ahead for year-end holidays.

 

Early planning and wider reach

Advance flight bookings for the year-end season have doubled from a low base, signalling strong intent to travel. The trend is also a good indicator for accommodation demand, which typically follows later in the cycle.

 

The trend seen in just six days highlights how widespread participation has become:

 

Domestic coverage: Bookings across 1,441 Indian cities, including 603 properties that were booked for the first time in over a year. 

Global spread: Indian travellers booked stays in 834 cities across 109 countries, choosing from nearly 7,911 unique international properties.

 

International flights: Tickets booked across 362 airports in 115 countries, serviced by 113 airlines.

Premium taste, value mindset

The data points to a continued “premiumisation” of travel choices. Within India, one in three bookings was for a 4- or 5-star property, with the average stay length rising slightly from 1.7 to 1.8 nights. Internationally, premium hotels made up 64.5 per cent of bookings, with an average stay of 4.9 nights.

 

Even so, Indian travellers remain price-savvy. Nearly 96 per cent of domestic hotel bookings used discount coupons or offers, particularly through partner banks such as HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, and payment networks Visa and RuPay.

 

Favourite destinations

Among domestic leisure destinations, Goa, Jaipur, Udaipur, and Lonavala topped hotel bookings. On the international side, Dubai, Pattaya, Bangkok, Phuket, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Bali, London, Krabi, and Langkawi were the most sought-after.

 

Timed offers, especially MakeMyTrip’s “Lightning Drops” between 6 PM and 9 PM, helped drive engagement, as travellers rushed to secure limited deals and best prices.

 

Industry perspective

Rajesh Magow, co-founder and group CEO of MakeMyTrip, said the response reflects a positive shift. “It’s encouraging to see travellers engaging earlier in the planning cycle and making more considered choices. With Travel Ka Muhurat, our intent is to create a platform that benefits travellers, partners, and the industry at large by enabling better planning and more predictable demand,” he said. 

 

The campaign continues through November, with weekly themes and new partner offers expected to sustain momentum, setting the tone for what could be one of India’s busiest travel seasons in recent years.