MakeMyTrip’s Pilgrimage Travel Trends 2024-25 reveal strong growth across pilgrimage cities

Pilgrimage travel is emerging as one of the fast-growing segments of India’s travel and tourism industry. According to MakeMyTrip’s Pilgrimage Travel Trends 2024-25 analysis, accommodation bookings across 56 pilgrimage destinations grew by 19% in FY24-25. The company said the pilgrimage travel trends highlight broad-based momentum, with 34 destinations recording double-digit growth and 15 destinations growing by over 25%, underscoring how spiritual journeys are becoming a powerful driver of travel demand.

The company said the breadth of growth across pilgrimage destinations can be seen in centres such as Prayagraj (Uttar Pradesh), Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh), Ayodhya (Uttar Pradesh), Puri (Odisha), Amritsar (Punjab) and Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh), which continue to grow. At the same time, places like Khatushyam Ji (Rajasthan), Omkareshwar (Madhya Pradesh) and Thiruchendur (Tamil Nadu) are also registering 'strong' momentum, reflecting the widening canvas of spiritual travel in the country.

The strong growth in pilgrimage demand is also driving an aggressive expansion of accommodation supply across key destinations. Travellers are largely opting for short, purpose-driven stays, with more than half choosing single-night trips. At the same time, premiumisation is gaining momentum, bookings for rooms priced above Rs 7,000 grew by over 20%, the company said.


Rajesh Magow, Co-Founder and Group CEO, MakeMyTrip, said the company is seeing seeing steady growth in pilgrimage travel, fuelled by stronger connectivity and Indians across all age groups and income segments planning pilgrimage-led trips. "This growing demand is broadening traveller expectations and prompting the industry to innovate in ways that better serve the unique needs of the pilgrim traveller," he added.

The late booking trend is characteristic of Indian travellers, cutting across all segments of travel. Pilgrimage travel, much like leisure, continues to be booked very close to the date of travel, with more than 63% of bookings made within six days of departure, MakeMyTrip stated.

Pilgrimage travel remains defined by short, purpose-driven stays. More than half of all travellers (53%) opt for single-night visits, compared to 45% in leisure travel, as per MakeMyTrip . Two-night stays make up nearly one-third (31%) of trips, while three-night stays account for just 11%. Longer durations of four nights or more together contribute less than 5% of bookings, in contrast to leisure travel, which shows a more even spread across multiple nights.

Over the past three years, pilgrimage destinations have seen a sharp rise in accommodation supply. More than a third of all hotel rooms available today at these locations were launched during the past three years, with even faster growth in homestays, apartments, and hostels. The expansion of homestays reflects both new additions and existing properties coming online as hosts tap into rising demand. "Premium supply has also scaled rapidly, 63% of the premium accommodation available today were launched during the same period, reflecting how businesses are actively investing to capture the demand in premium segment," the company said in a statement.