The New Travel Playbook

Rather than routine getaways, Indians are packing their bags for spirituality, festivals, concerts, wellness—and sleep

- AKSHARA SRIVASTAVA

India's travel landscape is undergoing a transformation, driven by a growing appetite for unique experiences and event-centric itineraries. Whether it's attending spiritual gatherings like the Maha Kumbh or cheering for global music icons like Coldplay, travelers are increasingly shaping their plans around marquee events and immersive experiences.

For Deepak Kumar, a 33-year-old software engineer from Gurugram, traveling to Varanasi was not something he had planned this year. "I am not very religious but I wanted to visit the mela because it is one of the biggest congregations that you'll see," he says. While he planned the trip to Prayagraj last year itself, Varanasi was a last-minute addition because his friends and he wanted to spend more time together before they got back to the daily grind of their corporate jobs.

Meanwhile, Arunav Saxena, a 27-year-old software engineer, bought a two-day pass to the music festival Lollapalooza, held in Mumbai this month. "I bought my tickets in October last year, right when Green Day announced it would be performing," he says. "It's a band I have followed since I was a teenager, and I never imagined I would be able to see it live... I could not miss it at any cost."

Kumar and Saxena are part of a growing cohort of travelers who are planning their trips around marquee events and immersive experiences.

"Events like the Maha Kumbh and Ayodhya (Ram temple consecration ceremony) are opening the horizons for all customer segments," Rajesh Magow, co-founder and group chief executive officer (CEO), MakeMyTrip, told Business Standard recently. With more supply and better connectivity, the seasonality factor is going away and people are seeing these as year-round destinations, he said.

The number of concerts, such as the one by Coldplay, has also gone up, stimulating domestic travel activity, added Magow whose company is India's largest online travel aggregator.