Health and medical trips were most expensive among all trips completed in a year with average expenditure of Rs 29,454 in rural areas and Rs 41,649 in urban areas. Of this expenditure, over 70% was spent on medical treatment. The largest chunk of travel (48.7%) in a year was for pilgrimage or religious purposes.This was revealed in the survey on Domestic Tourism Expenditure conducted from July 2025 to June 2026 as part of National Sample Survey’s 80th round. The survey collected information on purpose and expenditure of domestic travel, including overnight trips, and same-day journeys, and categories of expenditure during the trips.
The report showed that of the expenditure on travel for health and medical needs, 10% was for accommodation, followed by 5% each for food and drink and transport. For two other major categories of travel – holidaying, leisure and recreation, and for pilgrimage and recreation – transport was the largest chunk of expenditure. In case of overnight trips for shopping, the biggest chunk of expenditure was not surprisingly on shopping.
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Rented or hired transport was the most popular for medical and health-centred trips accounting for almost 47% of trips in rural areas and about 40% in urban areas, followed by buses – 26% in rural areas and 21% in urban. Those surveyed used their own vehicle in less than a quarter of these trips in urban areas and less than one in five in rural.Average expenditure per same-day trip, incurred by households in rural and urban areas, was highest for trips undertaken for ‘shopping’ (Rs 1,795 for rural, Rs 2,631 for urban) and ‘health and medical’ accounted for the second costliest purpose (Rs 1,499 for rural, Rs 1,859 for urban). For same-day trips, travel for health and medical needs figured after travel for social purpose and shopping.