Cleartrip Unpacked 2025 shows how Gen Z turbocharged India’s travel boom

MUMBAI: India did not just travel more in 2025. It travelled smarter, faster and with far more attitude. According to Cleartrip Unpacked 2025, the online travel platform’s year-end report, Gen Z emerged as the unlikely engine of the country’s travel boom, driving a staggering 650 per cent jump in bookings and turning cafés, co-working spaces and sunset points across India into unofficial offices and playgrounds.

If there was a single theme to the year, it was value without compromise. Travellers chased affordable stays, flexible plans and app-first bookings, proving that budget-conscious no longer means boring.

At the heart of the shift was Gen Z. Their travel was spontaneous, vibe-led and unapologetically experience-first. Skyline selfies in Dubai, street-food crawls in Kuala Lumpur and long nights in Bangkok made these cities the most sought-after international hotspots. Millennials followed close behind, borrowing Gen Z’s habits with enthusiasm. More than 65 per cent of all bookings were made on the Cleartrip app, while a similar share went to budget and mid-range hotels.

The travel map itself widened. Vietnam emerged as the breakout international destination, recording a 133 per cent rise in traffic, fuelled in part by a flood of social-media travel diaries. Back home, spiritual and nature-led travel held firm. Varanasi and the Andaman Islands saw a steady 20 per cent increase in interest, while Uttar Pradesh topped the domestic charts. Stay searches for Prayagraj tripled and Bareilly jumped fourfold.

Solo travel gathered pace, with Delhi and Bengaluru leading the charge. Travellers from the capital leaned towards Himachal Pradesh, Jaipur and Agra, while Bengalureans escaped to Coorg, Ooty and Kodaikanal, blurring the line between business hubs and leisure gateways.

International confidence was buoyed by features such as visa rejection cover, helping Phuket, Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok remain firm favourites. At the same time, niche travel quietly grew legs. Calm seekers opted for “calmcations” in Rishikesh, Coorg and Alleppey. Work-from-anywhere travellers decamped to Goa, Pondicherry and Darjeeling. Digital detox fans chose Spiti, Ladakh and the Andamans, while adventure lovers made a beeline for Bir Billing, Lakshadweep and Auli.

Then came the chaos. Some travellers planned almost a year ahead, booking stays 361 days in advance in Chikkamagaluru and 350 days ahead in Ribandar, Goa. Others lived on adrenaline, with 38 lakh flight bookings made within 48 hours of departure. Around three lakh people booked flights between 3 am and 4 am, enough to fill 353 Airbus A380s.

Extremes defined spending too. The cheapest flight cost Rs 0. The most affordable hotel night came in at Rs 48. At the other end of the scale, travellers shelled out Rs 2.4 lakh for a Delhi–Guwahati flight, Rs 4.43 lakh for Paris–Mumbai and Rs 4.41 lakh for a Maldives hotel stay. One flier even paid Rs 65,000 in excess baggage on a Ghaziabad–Bengaluru trip.

Put together, 2025 was a year of personality-led travel. Indians were impulsive yet deliberate, frugal yet indulgent, glued to their phones but hungry for experiences. If this was the warm-up, 2026 promises to be louder, faster and even more crowded at that sunset spot.