India's festive season is increasingly turning into a string of short escapes rather than one big holiday.
Nearly one in four travellers took multiple trips between October and December last year, while bookings for the 2026 festive quarter are already running around 50% ahead of last year, according to a report by backpacker hostel chain Zostel.
According to Zostel's Festive Travel Pulse 2026 report, 23% of its guests booked more than one getaway during the October-December period last year.
Nearly 10% explored at least two destinations in the same quarter, pointing to a growing appetite for hopping between places on short breaks instead of spending the festive season on a single, longer holiday. Demand for November getaways is gathering pace, with bookings for stays in the month up 43% from the level recorded at the same point last year, the report said.
Festive travel is also leaning towards quick escapes, with the typical trip lasting just two nights and many travellers making plans at short notice. Spontaneity is shaping festive travel, with nearly 30% of guests securing their stay only on arrival day.
About six in 10 made reservations no more than three days before checking in, while seven in 10 booked within the week leading up to their trip. Fewer than 10% of travellers booked their holidays more than a month before departure, highlighting the prevalence of last-minute travel planning.
Himalayan Getaways Gain Popularity
Hampi, Gokarna, Varkala, Rishikesh and Jaipur featured among the leading destinations for bookings during the 2026 festive season so far. However, some of the fastest-growing destinations were in the Himalayas. Bookings for Sangla were three times last year's level, while Kalpa recorded 2.9 times the bookings, followed by Shangarh at 2.8 times and Chitkul and Shoja at 2.6 times each.
Three of the five fastest-growing destinations were in Kinnaur, highlighting rising interest in mountain getaways, the report said.
Solo travellers accounted for more than half of all bookings, while around 30% involved two people and one in seven were for groups of three or more. Women made up more than a fifth of the guests during the festive period.
The NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Pune and Hyderabad were the leading source markets for festive travellers.
ALSO READ: Festive Season Likely To Create 2-2.5 Lakh Jobs Between July And December: Report
Christmas-New Year Week Busiest Period
The Dussehra and Gandhi Jayanti long weekend marked October's peak travel period last year, while November saw a more evenly distributed pattern, with every Saturday emerging as a peak day.
The Christmas-New Year week was the busiest stretch of the quarter. December 25 recorded the highest number of check-ins, nearly 40% above the average daily level, the report said.
"The festive season is not one trip anymore. It is a season of trips," Dharamveer Singh Chouhan, co-founder of Zostel and Zo World and group CEO of Zo World, said.
He attributed the trend partly to shorter stays and spontaneous travel decisions, noting that many travellers book on the day they arrive and take trips averaging two nights before planning another getaway.
(WIth PTI inputs)
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