India to Tap Fintech Credit for a New Wave of Experiential Travel

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India’s travel boom is entering a new phase where experiences—not things—are at the centre of spending, and fintechs are racing to fund this shift with flexible credit. As millions of Indians turn vacations, concerts, treks and wellness retreats into recurring lifestyle choices, digital lenders, banks and card issuers are building “travel‑first” credit products that let people pay for experiences over time rather than upfront.

From savings-first to experience-first spending

For decades, Indian households were known for conservative, savings‑led financial habits, treating travel and leisure as occasional indulgences. That mindset is changing fast. The Alive Experience Economy Report 2025 shows that spending on experiences grew 90‑fold in 2025 versus 2024, signalling a structural shift towards learning, wellness and participatory leisure. Indians are increasingly choosing workshops, treks, retreats and events over traditional “passive” entertainment like movies and cafés, with some users now spending up to ₹40,000 per booking when experiences are high quality and well curated.

Travel sits at the heart of this change. In 2025, 3.3 crore Indians travelled abroad, and domestic tourism has surged as well, making travel a regular budget line item rather than a rare treat. This has created a new kind of demand: travellers who are willing to spend more, travel more often, and seek richer experiences—provided they can spread payments or tap easy credit without complex paperwork.

Fintechs and banks build “pay‑over‑time” for travel

Fintechs and banks are responding by embedding credit directly into travel and experience purchases. India’s Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) market is expected to grow by about 22.5% in 2026 to roughly US$30.45 billion, with a significant share of this credit flowing into discretionary categories like travel, events and lifestyle services.

Regulation has nudged the market away from unregulated BNPL players and toward bank‑linked products—card EMIs, UPI‑linked credit lines and co‑branded “pay‑later” solutions. NPCI’s “Credit Line on UPI” framework now lets banks expose revolving or fixed credit limits through UPI, enabling EMI‑like payments at merchants that previously only accepted direct bank transfers, including travel agents, OTAs and experience platforms. At the same time, banks are launching EMI‑centric credit cards in partnership with fintechs, making “pay in instalments” the default behaviour for large travel purchases.

Travel platforms and experience apps plug into credit

On the front‑end, travel‑tech companies and discovery platforms are becoming the key distribution channels for this credit. Online travel agencies such as MakeMyTrip, EaseMyTrip and Ixigo already see rising traffic from India’s travel boom, but margins are under pressure due to intense competition and high customer‑acquisition costs. Embedding credit—EMI offers on flights and hotels, pay‑later at checkout, co‑branded travel cards—gives them new levers to increase ticket size and retention while offering travellers more affordability.

Experience‑led platforms such as Explurger and others focused on local discovery and curated experiences are also aligned with this trend. As the government promotes trekking routes, heritage circuits and niche destinations, these apps help travellers find authentic experiences and are well‑placed to surface “book now, pay later” options for events, retreats and local tours. For younger users in particular, the ability to split payments can be the difference between browsing and actually booking a weekend trek, music festival or couple‑centric getaway.

Credit cards become essential travel companions

Credit cards remain one of the most important tools in this ecosystem. Banks report that Indians are increasingly using credit cards for flights, hotels and shopping on trips, encouraged by rewards, lounge access and partner discounts. Travel‑centric cards often bundle air miles, hotel points, airport transfer offers and complimentary insurance, making them almost inseparable from modern travel planning.

As experiential travel grows, these cards are also being tuned for experiences: higher reward rates on travel and entertainment, special offers on concert tickets and experiential stays, and partnerships with OTAs and experience platforms. For frequent travellers, optimising card usage—choosing the right product, redeeming points smartly, and using instalment options—can meaningfully lower the cash strain of more frequent, higher‑value trips.

Global perspectives: India joins a wider experiential wave

India’s shift toward experience‑led, credit‑enabled travel mirrors a broader global pattern, but with local twists. In mature markets, travel credit has long been driven by frequent‑flyer cards and personal loans; in India, UPI‑linked credit lines and small‑ticket EMIs are playing a bigger role thanks to the country’s real‑time payments infrastructure and mobile‑first behaviour.

Internationally, card networks and global OTAs view India as a high‑growth source market, especially as outbound travel scales and travellers look to finance long‑haul holidays to Europe, Southeast Asia and the Middle East. As a result, cross‑border partnerships—Indian bank cards with global airline or hotel brands, foreign BNPL players tying up with Indian gateways—are likely to intensify, giving Indian travellers more options for splitting payments on big‑ticket international trips.

Risks: debt traps and responsible lending

The rise of easy credit for experiences also brings risks that regulators and consumers are increasingly aware of. The Reserve Bank of India has already tightened rules on digital lending and constrained some wallet‑loaded credit models to prevent misuse and over‑indebtedness. As BNPL and pay‑later tools expand in travel, there is a real danger that some users, especially younger ones, could stack multiple small loans across platforms to fund frequent trips, only to struggle with repayments later.

Fintechs and banks are therefore being pushed toward stricter underwriting, clearer disclosures and more transparent fee structures. For travellers, responsible usage means treating credit as a way to smooth cash flows, not as extra income—planning EMIs within realistic budgets, avoiding impulsive bookings, and using rewards and offers without chasing them at the cost of financial stability.

How travellers can make the most of travel credit

For Indian travellers, the new wave of fintech‑enabled credit opens up practical opportunities if used thoughtfully.

Helpful approaches include:

• Using EMIs for big‑ticket international or long‑duration trips while paying smaller domestic getaways in full.travel.economictimes.
• Leveraging credit‑line‑on‑UPI or card EMIs for high‑value experiences—learning retreats, wellness stays, adventure tours—where the long‑term value justifies instalments.
• Consolidating travel spending on a few well‑chosen cards or pay‑later products to maximise rewards and keep track of obligations.
• Booking through platforms that clearly show total cost, EMI schedules and any interest or fees upfront.

As India’s tourism infrastructure and policy continue to favour experiential, destination‑led growth—from trekking circuits to heritage trails—the alignment between travel and fintech is set to deepen. If managed responsibly, this partnership can make richer, more frequent travel accessible to a wider slice of India’s middle class, turning “once in a lifetime” experiences into repeat journeys without derailing long‑term financial goals.