Language Settings
Select Website Language

GDPR Compliance

We use cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies, Privacy Policy, and Terms of Service.

NSO Survey Urban Travellers Pick Hotels, Rural Turn to Dharamshalas

11 hours ago

8

0

India's latest NSO domestic tourism survey shows urban travellers favour hotels while rural travellers rely on dharamshalas, with modest average spending.

Most urban travellers in India stay in hotels, guesthouses or rented homes when they take an overnight domestic trip, while dharamshalas remain the leading choice for those from rural areas, according to the latest domestic tourism survey by the National Statistical Office (NSO).

The survey, conducted between July 2025 and June 2026, found that the average spend on such trips was Rs 16,420 for urban travellers and Rs 15,560 for rural travellers. Nearly 64% of trips lasted no more than three nights, and travellers were usually accompanied by just one companion.

Only about a third of households took overnight trips in the past year. Of Indians who travelled, more than three-fourths did so for medical or pilgrimage reasons, which helps explain the low spending and the reliance on dharamshalas among rural travellers.

The survey defined an overnight trip as travel to a destination lasting at least 12 hours, including the midnight hours, across two consecutive calendar days and no longer than 180 days. It found that the frequency of domestic travel has risen over the past decade compared with the previous survey in 2014-15.

For every 100 tourist households, rural areas now record 127 trips, up from 118 in 2014-15. Urban areas logged 132 trips, compared with 121 earlier.

Leisure trips concentrated in cities

Holiday or leisure travel was far more common among urban households. While 22% of Indian households took a leisure trip, only 12.5% of rural tourist households did so, against 36.4% of urban ones. May and October were the peak months for such trips.

More than 95% of religious and leisure trips were self-financed, with no government or institutional reimbursement available. For health and medical trips, 8% were reimbursed by the government.

Trains for cities, buses for villages

Transport patterns differed by region. Buses were the main mode of travel in rural areas at 32%, while trains were the preferred option for urban travellers at 35%.

Transport also took the largest share of spending on religious and leisure trips, accounting for nearly 35% of trip costs in both rural and urban areas. For medical trips, medicine was the biggest expense, making up close to 75% of the total.

The survey also tracked households that took overnight trips in the past month. Social trips made up the largest share at 89%, and nearly 80% of these trips lasted less than three days.

NSO domestic tourism survey, India domestic travel, dharamshalas, urban travellers hotels, travel spending India, pilgrimage travel, overnight trips India, rural tourism

Click here to Read More
Previous Article
Allegri Vents at Napoli Squad as De Laurentiis Stays Away
Next Article
Malacca, Malaysia Trishaws, Peranakan Feasts and a UNESCO Old Town

Related India Updates:

Are you sure? You want to delete this comment..! Remove Cancel

Comments (0)

    Leave a comment