Nagaland tops monsoon travel growth as Indian Travellers embrace offbeat destinations: Cleartrip

The report reveals robust year-on-year growth across travel categories, with hotel bookings rising by over 54% and bus bookings surging 140%, highlighting the growing popularity of monsoon getaways.

The Northeast has emerged as the biggest beneficiary of this trend. Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh recorded the highest growth among all destinations, with flight bookings increasing by 62% and hotel bookings rising by more than 90% year-on-year. Shillong and Guwahati also witnessed strong hotel booking growth of over 65% and 60%, respectively, while flight bookings to Itanagar, Jorhat and Imphal recorded significant gains.

“We are now in an Age of Experience, where travel is driven by intent rather than itineraries, and our data this monsoon makes that unmistakably clear. The Indian traveller is not waiting for the perfect season or the obvious destination. They are finding their own,” said Pallavi Saxena, Chief Marketing and Revenue Officer, Cleartrip.

Among hill destinations, Wayanad led the surge with hotel bookings increasing by more than 160%, followed by Alleppey at over 145%. Kodaikanal and Ooty also posted strong growth of more than 70% each.

Popular leisure destinations continued to perform well, with hotel bookings in Goa growing by over 110%, Pondicherry by 104%, Visakhapatnam by 85%, and Udaipur by more than 50%.

The report also highlights changing preferences among Gen Z travellers, who are increasingly choosing unconventional destinations. Tajikistan registered the highest growth at over 245%, followed by Lakshadweep (80%), Muscat and the Philippines (70%), while Hubli, Leh, and Tashkent also saw strong increases. Train travel remains particularly popular among Gen Z, accounting for 45% of all train bookings, followed by Millennials at 28%.

Booking patterns further indicate a growing preference for solo travel and advance planning, with solo flight bookings rising 65% and group flight bookings increasing by more than 25% compared to the previous monsoon. Meanwhile, hotel bookings in the mid-range segment continued to gain momentum, with overall hotel bookings recording a 53.9% year-on-year increase during the season.