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How India travelled in 2025, according to ixigo’s travel index
GURUGRAM: If 2025 had a boarding pass, it would read culture, curiosity and crowd-pulling experiences. ixigo’s newly released The Great Indian Travel Index 2025 offers a lively snapshot of how Indians travelled this year, and the story is anything but ordinary. From faith-fuelled pilgrimages and binge-watch-inspired holidays to first-time flyers discovering the joy of take-off, India’s travel mood stayed buoyant across flights, trains and buses.
Overall demand climbed steadily, with flight searches rising 45 per cent year on year, bus searches up 42 per cent and train searches growing by 20 per cent compared to 2024. A packed calendar of concerts, festivals and religious gatherings, combined with smoother visa access, ensured that travel never really slowed down.
One of the year’s most unexpected plot twists came courtesy of OTT platforms. Popular series such as The Family Man Season 3, Paatal Lok Season 2 and Delhi Crime Season 3 quietly turned the Northeast into a must-see destination. Viewers followed the scenery off screen, leading to sharp growth in flight bookings to Dimapur at 77 per cent, Agartala at 48 per cent, Guwahati and Imphal at 44 per cent each, and Itanagar at 42 per cent. For many travellers, the remote suddenly felt reachable.
Spiritual travel, meanwhile, found a passionate new champion in Gen Z. Meaning-led journeys took centre stage in 2025, with the Maha Kumbh driving unprecedented demand to Prayagraj. Gen Z bus bookings to the city surged nearly 20 times year on year, while the most expensive domestic flight booked on ixigo was a Mumbai to Prayagraj ticket costing Rs 92,644 during the peak Kumbh period.
Pilgrimage hotspots recorded striking growth across modes. Flight bookings jumped to Varanasi by 134 per cent and Tirupati by 102 per cent, followed by Prayagraj, Ayodhya and Shirdi. Bus and train travel mirrored this momentum, with destinations such as Varanasi, Mathura, Rishikesh, Haridwar and Gaya seeing strong double digit growth.
Indian travellers also looked beyond borders with renewed enthusiasm. Japan and South Korea emerged as the most booked international destinations, growing by 63 per cent and 61 per cent respectively. Vietnam and Thailand followed closely, while countries such as Oman, Kenya, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan signalled a growing appetite for offbeat global escapes.
Closer home, hills remained a firm favourite, with Dehradun and Srinagar leading flight demand, while coastal destinations such as Port Blair and Goa continued to draw steady crowds. The monsoon, once considered a travel pause, was reimagined as an opportunity, with leisure demand rising 35 to 40 per cent year on year as travellers chased misty views and quieter breaks.
Commenting on the findings, ixigo Group CEO Aloke Bajpai and Group co-CEO Rajnish Kumar said the index reflects a travel landscape shaped equally by faith, aspiration and access. Over half of new flight bookers on ixigo’s NBU app were first-time flyers, while Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities increasingly drove demand across all modes.
In 2025, travel in India was not just about reaching destinations. It was about stories, beliefs and first steps into the wider world, all neatly captured in ixigo’s year-long map of movement.
Brands
Abhinav Rastogi named global marketing director for YouTube Shopping
Google veteran to scale creator commerce and expand shopping across global markets
SINGAPORE: Abhinav Rastogi has stepped into a new role as global marketing director for YouTube Shopping, marking the latest chapter in a more than decade-long career at Google.
Rastogi, who took on the position in February and is based in Singapore, will lead global marketing for YouTube Shopping, a platform designed to connect creators, viewers and merchants in a single ecosystem. His remit includes expanding the service into new markets and strengthening its positioning as a growth channel for both creators and brands.
In a reflective note on the transition, Rastogi pointed to a simple but powerful idea driving the role. For years, creators have quietly built trust with audiences through consistent and authentic content, and that trust often shapes purchasing decisions. What is changing now, he said, is the infrastructure around that behaviour. YouTube Shopping aims to make it easier for viewers to discover and buy products recommended by creators they already follow.
The scale is already significant. More than half a million creators have joined the programme, with recent expansion into Japan through a partnership with Rakuten signalling further global ambitions.
Rastogi believes the future of shopping on YouTube will be driven by a blend of creators, content and communities. In his view, it is the human voice behind the screen, not just the product, that ultimately builds trust and drives discovery.
Prior to this role, he served as director of marketing, YouTube Asia Pacific, where he led regional marketing across creator engagement, brand building and reputation. During that time, he played a key role in launching and scaling YouTube Shopping across eight markets in the region.
Earlier stints at Google include group product marketing manager, consumer apps, overseeing growth for products such as Search, Maps and Assistant across India and Southeast Asia, and product marketing manager roles spanning consumer apps and YouTube, where he contributed to launches including YouTube Music, YouTube Originals and YouTube Shorts.
Rastogi began his career in consulting with Boston Consulting Group and A.T. Kearney, before moving into the technology sector. He is an alumnus of Indian Institute of Management Calcutta and Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur.
Alongside his corporate role, he is also an active angel investor, backing early-stage startups in consumer technology and electric mobility across India and Southeast Asia.
As he settles into the new role, Rastogi is betting on a future where every video can double up as a storefront, and where commerce feels less like a transaction and more like a recommendation from a trusted voice.
