Scapia’s 2025 travel insights show that Indian travel has shifted from being episodic to frequent and continuous. Instead of planning one annual vacation, travellers are taking multiple, shorter trips throughout the year. Flight bookings grew 5x, stays rose 8–9x, and card spends were recorded across 113 currencies in 174 countries, underscoring the scale and global nature of this shift.
Indians are increasingly stitching together flights, trains, buses, stays and forex to build flexible, experience-led journeys. This evolution is reflected in strong growth across travel categories on Scapia, wider participation from Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities, and the growing role of rewards in enabling incremental travel.
Leadership perspective: Travel is now a mindset
Anil Goteti, Founder & CEO, Scapia, said, “Travel in India has shifted from being occasional to habitual. People are no longer waiting for one big holiday; they are weaving multiple, shorter trips into their year, increasingly anchored around experiences that matter to them. Travel has become a continuous mindset – many are already thinking about the next journey while still on the current one.
This shift is now playing out globally: in 2025, Scapia travellers visited 174 countries, reflecting how wide and ambitious India’s travel aspirations have become. The Indian traveller today is in constant motion, and this momentum across domestic and international travel is only accelerating.”
Travel is no longer annual – it’s continuous
Scapia’s 2025 data shows a decisive move away from the once-a-year holiday model. Growth across flights, stays, trains and buses indicates that travel is now spread throughout the year, with users mixing weekend breaks, work-enabled stays and international trips instead of concentrating travel into a single long vacation.
Travel expands beyond metros and mainstream destinations
The geographic spread of travel widened significantly in 2025. Domestically, travellers booked trips to destinations such as Ziro (Arunachal Pradesh), Pakyong (Sikkim), Jagdalpur (Chhattisgarh) and Pasighat (Arunachal Pradesh).
Internationally, the Scapia Federal Credit Card was used across 113 currencies in 174 countries, including Tashkent (Uzbekistan), Luang Prabang (Laos), Barbados (Caribbean) and Puerto Princesa (Philippines).
Participation is also widening demographically. International flight bookings by women tripled, with Tier-2 cities driving over 2.5x growth, indicating broader participation beyond metros. Among younger travellers, Gen Z accounted for 33% of all train bookings and 40% of solo female bus bookings, highlighting strong adoption of ground transport and easier access beyond major airport hubs.
Multi-modal travel becomes the default
Travel in 2025 was not defined by flights alone. Train and bus bookings formed a meaningful share of overall usage, signalling a growing preference for multi-modal journeys that allow travellers to move more frequently and flexibly—particularly for shorter trips and offbeat destinations.
Rewards power incremental trips
Scapia’s data highlights how rewards are lowering the barrier to frequent travel. Nearly 50% of train bookings and 60% of bus bookings in 2025 were fully funded through Scapia coins redemptions. Everyday spending is increasingly being converted into additional short trips, such as weekend getaways and short-haul journeys, rather than being saved only for large, one-off vacations.
Experiences now drive travel decisions
Destinations are increasingly being chosen for what travellers want to do, not just where they want to go. From treks and safaris to concerts, festivals and cultural immersions, trips are planned around experiences rather than city checklists.
Scapia’s 2026 travel outlook: Key shifts to watch
Frequency replaces distance
In 2026, Indian travel will be defined by how often people travel, not how far. Taking three or more trips a year will become the norm, especially in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities, as rewards, faster booking and better connectivity reduce friction. Short, repeatable trips will outperform the once-a-year long holiday.
48–72 hour destinations go mainstream
Destinations will increasingly be chosen for calendar-fit, not popularity. Places will move from aspirational to practical because they work as 48–72 hour breaks with reliable entry and exit. Offbeat will stop meaning “hard to reach” and start meaning “easy to repeat.”
Experiences replace city checklists
International travel will move away from city-led itineraries to experience-led trips. Festivals, dives, treks, concerts and short cultural immersions will drive bookings, with destination choice increasingly answering “what will I do there?” rather than “where should I go?”
The re-definition of airport privileges
Indian travellers are beginning to re-evaluate what “premium” means at airports. Instead of exclusivity, they are choosing flexibility and real value—from meals to retail. With one in three Scapia users already preferring shopping and dining over lounge access, 2026 is likely to see airports evolve into experience hubs, where loyalty is earned through usefulness, not just access.
