Booking.com Report: India's Alternative Accommodation Market Heads for ₹415 Billion by FY29

Booking.com expects gross booking value for alternative accommodation in India to reach ₹415 billion by FY29, and its new report says hosts who price dynamically earn far more per available room. The fourth edition of "How India Travels 2026: The Homes Edit" was produced with research firm VIDEC Consultants. Note that this is the platform's own research, built partly on surveys of its own partners.

Market size and growth

The report puts India's overall travel market at ₹8,200 billion. Alternative accommodation, meaning vacation rentals, apartments and other non-hotel stays, makes up about 13% of lodging gross booking value.

• Digitally distributed listings grew from 102,200 in FY23 to 215,000 in FY26.
• Supply growth is expected to slow after a 26% jump in FY26, but booking value is projected to grow at a 21.2% CAGR through FY29, faster than the wider travel market.
• Online searches for the category grew 6% between FY24 and FY25, against 2% for hotels.

Where growth is moving

Major metros and classic holiday spots still hold 46% of inventory in FY26. Growth is shifting to Tier-2 cities, religious centres and emerging leisure corridors. Between June 2025 and June 2026, listings more than doubled in Greater Noida, Ghaziabad, Indore and Ayodhya. The report cites a NITI Aayog 2025 homestay report estimating a shortage of more than 200,000 hotel rooms nationwide.

Pricing and professional hosts

In Bengaluru, Goa, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Mumbai, Pune and Siliguri, properties with high dynamic-pricing scores earned 108% to 190% higher RevPAR than fixed-price properties. Goa showed the widest gap, at 190%. The report describes a shift from fragmented individual hosts toward technology platforms, specialist operators and data-driven pricing.

Guests

Among leisure travelers surveyed, 87% said alternative stays create more meaningful memories, 85% chose them for authentic local experiences, and 83% said they suit families and groups and offer good value. Business travelers made up 19% of bookings in FY26 and are projected to reach 21% by FY27. Their main reasons: more space or a separate workspace (41%), hosting family or colleagues (40%), local experience (39%) and value on long stays (37%).

Payments are changing too. PayU data shows online travel payments growing 20% to 35% year on year, with Buy Now Pay Later and EMI products rising from 6% to 15% of travel transactions over 18 months.

Quotes

Santosh Kumar, Booking.com's Regional Head for South Asia, said alternative accommodation "has become a core driver of modern travel culture across the country." Virendra Jain, co-founder and CEO of VIDEC Consultants, said "a largely fragmented supply base is becoming an important part of the country's wider travel ecosystem," and called for more formalisation, technology adoption and consistent quality.

Method

The research ran in June 2026 and included 2,359 consumer responses and 1,131 responses from owners and managers listed on Booking.com, plus VIDEC and PriceLabs data.