What is the story about?
The urban side of India is choosing something entirely different when it comes to travel now. Their plans have changed and their itineraries do not look
like what they used to. The quick getaways are no longer grabbing their attention, instead it's something else. A recent survey by Alive App, a Bengaluru-based experiences platform, polled 500,000 urban consumers across Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Goa between March and April 2026. What it found paints a telling picture of how Indians are choosing to spend their leisure time this summer.
The Cost Factor Is Real
Three out of four respondents said they are leaning into local experiences rather than booking travel. And the reasons aren't surprising once you look at what airfares have been doing. The App survey found that 67% of respondents felt travel had become noticeably more expensive compared to last year, a perception that lines up with what airlines themselves have been signalling. Higher aviation turbine fuel costs, tighter capacity, and peak-season demand have kept fares elevated, leaving travellers caught between the desire to go somewhere and the reluctance to pay what it now costs to get there. Only about 34% of those surveyed had actually locked in travel plans for the March–May window. Another third were still in the "thinking about it" phase, and the remaining third had written off travel altogether for the season.
So Where Is Everyone Going?
Closer to home, as it turns out, and with intention. The survey found that 39% of respondents are actively doing more local experiences than they were before, while 36% are keeping pace with what they were already doing. Adventure and outdoor activities topped the preference list, followed by cultural experiences, formats that replicate the discovery and social energy of travel without requiring a boarding pass.
Spending patterns are shifting accordingly. Around 35% of respondents said they are putting more money into local leisure than they previously did, pointing to a quiet reallocation of the discretionary budget, away from flights and hotels, and toward things that can be done on a Saturday afternoon without a layover.
It's Not Just About Money
What's worth noting is that cost is only part of the story. When respondents explained why they were choosing local over long-distance, convenience came up for 22%, time constraints for nearly 20%, and flight uncertainty, delays, cancellations, the general unpredictability of air travel, for another 20%. High travel costs, while significant at 21.6%, were one reason among several, not the sole driver.
This matters because it suggests the shift isn't purely reactive. People aren't just settling for local because travel is too expensive. They're actively choosing it because it fits better into how they live now.
What This Means For The Travel Conversation
India's travel industry has long operated on the assumption that aspiration flows in one direction, outward, upward, away. But what's emerging in 2026 looks more nuanced. The experience economy, events, wellness, art, food, outdoor activities, is absorbing leisure spending that would have once gone to airlines and hotels. That's suggesting a structural shift, not a seasonal blip. And for anyone watching where urban India spends its weekends, it's worth paying attention to.
