Archive · 23 Sep 2026
Uttar Pradesh Leads India in Total Visitor Trips
A government survey studied how people traveled within India.
Uttar Pradesh had the largest share of visitor-trips.
Tamil Nadu came second, and Rajasthan came third.
Many overnight trips were made for pilgrimage and religious reasons.
About four out of five visitors stayed for five days or less.
Rural households made 127 overnight trips per 100 tourist households, while urban households made 132.
Health and medical trips cost the most on average.
May and October were the busiest months for leisure and holiday trips.
Uttar Pradesh accounted for 15.7% of total visitor-trips, ahead of Tamil Nadu at 13.4% and Rajasthan at 8%.
The survey covered more than 246,000 households nationwide, excluding villages in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Pilgrimage and religious travel represented about 48% of overnight trips in both rural and urban areas.
About 80% of visitors stayed for five days or less during overnight trips.
Health and medical trips had the highest average expenditure, at ₹29,454 in rural areas and ₹41,649 in urban areas.
- Who
- Visitors and households across India were studied in the Domestic Tourism Expenditure Survey.
- What
- The survey measured visitor trips, travel purposes, overnight stays, and tourism expenditure.
- When
- The survey was conducted from July 2025 to June 2026 and published on September 23, 2026.
- Where
- It covered India, excluding villages in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
- Why
- The survey examined domestic tourism patterns, visitor purposes, travel characteristics, and spending.
- Top state by visitor-trip share
- Uttar Pradesh, with 15.7%
- Second-highest state
- Tamil Nadu, with 13.4%
- Third-highest state
- Rajasthan, with 8%
- Survey coverage
- More than 246,000 households
- Rural overnight trips
- 127 trips per 100 rural tourist households
- Urban overnight trips
- 132 trips per 100 urban tourist households
- Highest expenditure purpose
- Health and medical trips
- Peak leisure-trip months
- May and October