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24 September 2026 · National and international edition

Nearly Half of India’s Overnight Trips Are Pilgrimages: MoSPI’s Domestic Tourism Expenditure Survey 2025-26 Maps a Widening Rural–Urban Travel Gap

  • Domestic Tourism
  • MoSPI
  • National Sample Survey
  • Tourism Satellite Account
  • Religious Tourism

Why it is in the news

On 23 September 2026 the National Statistics Office (NSO) of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) released the results of the Domestic Tourism Expenditure Survey (DTES), fielded from July 2025 to June 2026 — India’s first household survey of domestic travel since 2014-15. It estimates about 10 crore overnight trips in the 365 days before households were interviewed — and finds that, among trips measured over a full year, pilgrimage far outranks holidaying.

The exam angle

Issue: India’s domestic travel is dominated by faith and medical need, while leisure travel is concentrating in urban households. Is tourism policy, built around destination promotion, aligned with how and why Indians actually travel?

Written for APPSC Group 1, TGPSC Group 1 and UPSC Civil Services. More from 24 September 2026 or all current affairs.

Nearly Half of India’s Overnight Trips Are Pilgrimages: MoSPI’s Domestic Tourism Expenditure Survey 2025-26 Maps a Widening Rural–Urban Travel Gap · PrepShark