Brands
How young Indians redrew the map of overseas travel in 2025
BENGALURU: India’s international travel story in 2025 was written largely by the young and the independent. According to Niyo’s Travel Report 2025, nearly two-thirds of all overseas trips by Indians originated from New Delhi, Bengaluru and Mumbai, underlining the continued dominance of India’s largest urban centres in global mobility.
The data points to a decisive generational shift. Gen Z and millennials accounted for nine in ten international trips, signalling the rise of a traveller who is confident, tech-savvy and focused on experiences rather than conventions. Solo travel emerged as the defining trend, making up 63.8% of all trips, far ahead of couples at 19.93%, families at 12.26% and groups at just 4.01%.
These travellers planned carefully despite their independent streak. Visa preparation, forex optimisation and cost efficiency featured prominently, reflecting a balance between spontaneity and financial prudence. Short-haul destinations across Asia and Central Asia dominated preferences. Thailand and the UAE led the list, accounting for 23.08% and 21.57% of trips respectively, followed by Georgia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, the UK and Singapore.
Emerging destinations also saw strong momentum. Flight growth was highest for Thailand, the UAE, Malaysia, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, while visa demand rose sharply for Dubai, Vietnam, Singapore, Hong Kong and Indonesia. Together, these patterns suggest Indian travellers are looking beyond traditional Western destinations, favouring affordability, accessibility and cultural novelty.
Timing, too, has shifted. September replaced October as the peak travel month, with 41% of trips planned during the month. Visa applications mirrored this change, with 53.4% submitted in September 2025, up from 46.6% in October the previous year. The shift points to a more price-conscious and planning-oriented traveller, keen to avoid seasonal spikes.
Safety considerations gained prominence. In 2025, travellers purchased 11,979 travel insurance policies, a rise of 43% from 2024. Most policies were valued between ₹50,000 and ₹1,00,000. Insured travellers most frequently visited destinations such as Thailand, the UAE, France, Malaysia, Singapore, the UK, Italy, Germany and Switzerland.
Co-founder and CEO of Niyo, Vinay Bagri, said, “The new global Indian traveller is young, ambitious, and unapologetically independent. They plan with confidence, book smart, and prioritise visas, insurance, and cost efficiency while travelling abroad. At Niyo, we are committed to being the travel stack behind every Indian passport story, helping travellers save, secure, and simplify their journeys.”
Spending behaviour abroad also reflected changing priorities. Nearly half of all card usage went towards shopping at 47.28%, followed by dining at 20.69% and transport at 19.93%. Accommodation accounted for 9.09% of spending, while experiences made up a modest 3.01%. Smarter forex management paid dividends, with Niyo users collectively saving ₹153 crore during the year. Premium members alone contributed ₹1.44 crore in savings.
Taken together, the data paints a clear picture. India’s outbound traveller in 2025 is younger, more self-directed and financially astute, shaped by digital tools and global aspirations. As international mobility grows, this cohort is redefining not just where Indians travel, but how they plan, spend and experience the world.
Brands
Uber launches hotel bookings feature in partnership with Expedia
From hotel bookings to room service at your door, the ride-hailing giant is making its boldest push yet into everyday life
CALIFORNIA: Uber is done being just a taxi app. At its annual GO-GET product event, the world’s leading mobility and delivery platform unveiled a sweeping set of new features designed to plant itself at the centre of how people travel, eat and shop, hotel bookings included.
The headline move is a partnership with Expedia Group that lets Uber users in the United States book hotels directly within the Uber app, with access to a catalogue that will eventually grow to more than 700,000 properties worldwide. Uber One members get 10 per cent back in Uber One credits on all hotel bookings and savings of at least 20 per cent on a rolling list of more than 10,000 hotels globally. Vacation rentals from Vrbo, Expedia Group’s home-rental brand, will be added later this year. The partnership is expected to expand beyond the United States. From June, Uber rides will also be integrated directly into the Expedia app, with push notifications sent to travellers ahead of hotel check-in to book discounted Uber rides for the duration of their stay.
Dara Khosrowshahi, chief executive of Uber, framed the expansion in terms of the modern condition. “Uber is becoming an app for everything, helping people go, get, and now travel all in one place,” he said. “We’re all living through a moment of real cognitive overload: too many apps, too many decisions, too much noise. At the end of the day, our job is to help people reclaim their time, spending less of it managing the logistics of life and more of it actually living.”
Ariane Gorin, chief executive of Expedia Group, struck a similarly ambitious note. “Travel should feel effortless, and this partnership gets us one step closer to offering a seamless traveller experience,” she said. “By connecting our two-sided marketplace with Uber, we’re bringing Uber rides directly into the Expedia app and Expedia Group’s lodging inventory into the Uber app through our Rapid API technology. Together, we’re helping travellers spend less time planning and more time enjoying the journey.”
Beyond hotels, the product announcements come thick and fast. Travel Mode, available within both the Uber and Uber Eats apps, offers curated recommendations on local favourites, tourist destinations, OpenTable restaurant reservations and on-demand delivery to hotel rooms. Uber One International means the membership programme now works globally, allowing members to earn credits on rides abroad that can be redeemed once back home. A new Shop for Me feature lets users request items from any store, even those not listed on the app. Eats for the Way allows riders in select cities booking an Uber Black or Uber Black SUV to have a drink or snack waiting for them in the car. Voice Bookings, powered by artificial intelligence, lets users book a ride conversationally, without touching their phone. And a redesigned One Search bar consolidates results for places, food and items across the entire Uber platform in a single query.
Uber has now logged more than 72 billion trips since it launched in 2010. The question it is now answering is what comes after the ride. The answer, apparently, is everything else. Whether users want a hotel in Paris, a coffee in the back of a car or a snake plant from the local garden centre, Uber would very much like to be the one to provide it. The app economy’s land grab has a new front-runner.
NOTE: The image used is AI generated and only for representational purposes.
