Some interesting trends have emerged in the travel industry, with a new report showing two-thirds of Indian international trips in 2025 originating from three metros—Delhi, Bengaluru, and Mumbai.
Gen Z and millennials lead with 9 in 10 trips, and solo-travel dominating international trips out of India.
As per the Niyo Travel Report 2025, the year 2025 marked a significant shift in the way Indians travelled internationally, with the new global Indian traveller emerging as young, digital-first, and experience-driven.
63.8 per cent of the trips were solo, while couples, families and groups accounted for the rest of the lot.
The Niyo Travel Report 2025 also points out that these travellers meticulously plan visas, optimise forex rates, and choose experiences, reflecting a blend of spontaneity and foresight.
Among the destinations, short-haul Asia and emerging Central Asia destinations dominated bookings. The top international destinations included Thailand, the UAE, Georgia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, the UK and Singapore.
The report also observes that emerging countries by flight growth were Thailand, the UAE, Malaysia, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan, while visa bookings grew strongly for Dubai, Vietnam, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Indonesia.
The report says that Thailand and the UAE dominated Indian travel because Indian travellers benefited from these countries due to the visa-on-arrival, e-visa, or visa-free entry rules for Indian travellers.
This resulted in significantly lowered planning time and uncertainty. This ease is clearly reflected in visa booking growth as well.
With flight times of 4-6 hours from major Indian metros, these destinations are ideal for long weekends and short vacations, first-time international travellers and their families, and working professionals with limited leave.
The report says that the convenience of short-haul travel and competitive flight fares due to high airline capacity—as well as affordable local transport, food, and experiences—made Thailand and the UAE repeat destinations.
The report also says that Dubai leads the most-searched destinations list for Indian travellers, and Thailand is visited because of the limited visa restrictions there. Kazakhstan has also become the new Switzerland for young Indians on a budget.
#Kazakhstan top Central Asian destination for Indian visitors in 2025. Indian media highlight growing interest in Kazakhstan as a premium travel destination 🇰🇿
— Embassy of Kazakhstan🇰🇿 in India 🇮🇳 (@KazEmbassyIndia) December 19, 2025
Read more 👇https://t.co/InC972YIDehttps://t.co/cK0sEFRNJPhttps://t.co/Ad60FBZv5A pic.twitter.com/5dZJBfzrIu
The report also points out that the peak travel month has shifted from October to September, with 41 per cent of trips planned in September 2025.
Visa applications mirror this shift, with over 53.4 per cent submitted in September—up from 46.6 per cent in October 2024.
This indicates a growing trend of price-conscious and planning-savvy travellers.
At the same time, the report mentioned that travellers continue to prioritise safety, with 11,979 travel insurance policies purchased in 2025—up 43 per cent from 2024.
Most policies fell within the Rs 50,000-1,00,000 range, and the top destinations for insured travellers included Thailand, the UAE, France, Malaysia, Singapore, UK, Italy, Germany, and Switzerland.
“The new global Indian traveller is young, ambitious, and unapologetically independent. They plan with confidence, book smart, and prioritise visas, insurance, and cost efficiency while travelling abroad,” remarked Vinay Bagri, Co-Founder and CEO of Niyo.
The report also found that Indian travellers' spending behaviour abroad has also evolved. Cards were increasingly used in 2025 for shopping, dining (a whopping 20.69 per cent), transport, accommodation, and other experiences.
