Indian travellers are continuing to spend on travel despite geopolitical tensions, economic uncertainty and disruptions to international travel, with domestic and outbound travel emerging as near-equal parts of online travel agency Booking.com’s business here.
Domestic accommodation searches by Indian travellers on its platform rose nearly 20% year-on-year in January-August 2026 compared with the same period in 2025, while domestic flight searches increased 25%. International outbound flight searches also grew 24% over the same period.
The company told Mint that India is the fastest-growing major market in Asia-Pacific for both domestic accommodation and flight searches compared with its major peers. Domestic accommodation searches declined in markets including China, Thailand, South Korea, Singapore, Vietnam, Japan and Indonesia.
“The size of India’s domestic market plays to our advantage. The fact that today the majority of Indians our travel spend is still domestic in nature and most of our consumers are still those who are travelling within the country means that, in some way, we are a bit insulated from what’s happening elsewhere,” said Santosh Kumar, regional head, South Asia, for Booking.com.
Domestic resilience
The year has seen major travel shocks, including the West Asia war and other geopolitical uncertainties that have affected international travel corridors. Kumar said the company has not seen a meaningful slowdown in Indian travel demand, with domestic and outbound travel now “neck and neck” for its business. In the company’s earlier years in India, inbound travel accounted for a larger share. He did not share actual data.
India’s resilience, with domestic demand cushioning the impact of global shocks even as travellers continue to travel overseas, broadly mirrors the trend at Booking Holdings globally. In its August second-quarter earnings call, the parent company said domestic and short-haul regional travel remained relatively healthy despite the West Asia war, partly offsetting weaker long-haul international demand.
“Indians are also used to taking multiple holidays in the year now, but shorter holidays. These three-to-five-night trips can be as many as six times a year,” he said.
This pattern is also supporting short-haul international travel, as improved air connectivity and easier visa access have opened up more destinations for Indian travellers. Kumar said Vietnam, Cambodia and Central Asia are among markets that have become more accessible, while Dubai, Bangkok, Tokyo, London and Singapore remain the most searched international destinations.
Domestic travel continues to dominate the search list, with Delhi, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Chennai and Rishikesh the five most searched destinations among Indian this year, he said.
The growth is not limited to leisure trips. Booking.com is also seeing demand from groups, which is feeding demand for alternative accommodation, particularly among larger groups looking for more space and privacy.
Kumar said the segment is not necessarily taking away demand from hotels, as some trips enabled by villas, apartments and other alternative stays may not have happened otherwise. “There might be a little bit of cannibalisation, but overall, the industry is growing,” he said.
Local investment
The company is also renewing its investment in India by localizing payments, launching new marketing campaigns and adding technology capabilities as it looks to deepen its presence beyond its existing customer base.
Payments on its platform, launched in India this year, allow travellers to pay through the platform using methods including UPI and RuPay. Earlier, Booking.com was largely a conduit between the accommodation and the person booking. As a result, Kumar said properties using its payment gateways have seen cancellation rates improve by up to 40%.
The company is also testing a more India-specific marketing strategy. It is launching its first India-focused travel marketing campaign, offering deals from accommodations as well as WhatsApp to communicate directly with travellers.
Kumar said consumers are increasingly using artificial intelligence during the planning stage. Booking.com is using AI to reduce the operational workload for accommodations, such as answering routine traveller queries. “The company is separately working with AI platforms as travel discovery increasingly happens outside traditional search,” he said.
Supply rebuild
For the next phase, the India entity is also rebuilding its accommodation supply. Kumar said the company has created a dedicated team to acquire new properties and bring back supply that had previously left the platform, including hotels and alternative accommodation.
Kumar said domestic accommodation searches are up nearly 20% and domestic flight searches 25% this year, while outbound flight searches have risen 24%.
Booking data also follows a similar trend of double-digit growth, the company said.
According to Ministry of Corporate Affairs filings of Booking Holdings India Pvt Ltd accessed through business intelligence platform Tofler, its revenue nearly doubled from ₹279 crore in FY24 to ₹532 crore in FY25. Profit also doubled from ₹50 crore to ₹98 crore in FY25. Booking Holdings houses this business and others such as Agoda, as well as its centre of excellence in Bengaluru.
India’s OTA market was worth $14.5 billion in FY24 and is projected to reach $23.6 billion by FY27, according to independent consultancy Videc.
Festive demand is also holding up. Searches by Indian travellers for domestic accommodation for October-December are up 18% year-on-year, while searches for international accommodation are up 13%.
Kumar said, “India is a key three-to-five-year investment opportunity and continues to be an important market for us. We expect to continue the focus on the market. With new investments in technology and marketing, we have increased the table stakes. We want to operate at the same level as some of our competitors in the market and bring in. Our USP is trust, transparent pricing and the breadth of supply, both domestic and international,” he said.