India’s travel and tourism industry is one of the most dynamic sectors of the country’s services economy, with international tourist arrivals projected to reach 30.5 million by 2028 according to industry estimates. The World Travel and Tourism Council projects India’s Travel and Tourism GDP to grow at an average rate of 7.1 percent annually over the next decade, reflecting the sector’s exceptional long-term growth trajectory. India’s travel agency landscape has consolidated substantially compared to a decade ago, with major Online Travel Agencies including MakeMyTrip, Cleartrip, Yatra, and Goibibo now dominating the digital booking market, while traditional travel agencies have moved upmarket to focus on customised tours, corporate travel, and high-touch service. MakeMyTrip’s app has been downloaded over 75 million times, while Thomas Cook India continues to be one of the most comprehensive one-stop travel service providers in the country. Let us have a look at the top 10 tourism companies in India for the year 2026.
1. MakeMyTrip Limited
MakeMyTrip, founded in the year 2000 by Deep Kalra with an initial focus on serving Non-Resident Indians in the United States before entering the domestic Indian market in 2005, is India’s most recognised travel brand in the digital space and has been listed on NASDAQ since 2010. The platform’s app has been downloaded over 75 million times and its inventory spans flights, hotels, trains, buses, cabs, and complete holiday packages across hundreds of destinations. MakeMyTrip’s key strength lies in its scale and deals infrastructure, supported by partnerships with numerous banks that provide frequent travellers with an array of booking benefits.
MakeMyTrip serves millions of Indian travellers and NRIs with its comprehensive online travel booking platform spanning flights, hotels, holidays, and ground transportation, and remains the most widely recognised and downloaded travel app in India for both convenience and trusted service across budget and luxury travel segments.
2. Thomas Cook (India) Limited
Thomas Cook India, whose journey traces back to the year 1881 when the company established its first office in India, is headquartered in Mumbai and is a subsidiary of Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited. The company provides foreign exchange services, international and domestic holidays, visas, passports, travel insurance, and MICE services across over 233 locations in 94 cities spanning India, Sri Lanka, and Mauritius. In March 2026, Thomas Cook opened its first outlet in Gwalior and announced a strategic partnership between Thomas Cook India and group company SOTC Travel, reinforcing its position as one of India’s most comprehensive travel service providers.
Thomas Cook India serves leisure travellers, corporate clients, and forex customers with its unusually comprehensive suite of travel-related services beyond just tour packages, including foreign exchange, visa processing, travel insurance, and cruise vacations that make it a genuine one-stop shop for travellers preferring a single trusted provider.
3. SOTC Travel Limited
SOTC Travel, held through its Indian listed subsidiary Thomas Cook India Limited, has been a major name in the Indian travel industry for more than 75 years, specialising in business, leisure, and incentive travel across escorted group tours, customised vacations, Indian holidays, and incentive travel programs. The company has transported a large number of tourists to different parts of the world and is a market leader in several travel categories. In March 2026, SOTC announced a strategic partnership with Thomas Cook India to strengthen their combined market position.
SOTC Travel serves group tour travellers, corporate incentive travel clients, and customised vacation seekers across domestic and international destinations with its curated travel experiences, and its 75-plus year heritage in escorted group tours and incentive travel gives it deep operational expertise in managing complex multi-destination itineraries.
4. Yatra Online Limited
Yatra Online, one of India’s significant online travel agencies, offers a similar range of services as MakeMyTrip including flights, hotels, trains, and holiday packages but tends to focus more on value deals and ready-made tour packages especially for domestic travellers. The company has a strong presence in corporate travel and group bookings which makes it a preferred partner for businesses and school or college tour operators, alongside curated tour packages to popular Indian destinations including religious circuits, hill stations, and heritage sites.
Yatra serves budget-conscious travellers, Indian families, corporate groups, and tour organisers planning pre-designed trips across India with its value-focused travel booking platform, and its strong corporate travel and group booking capabilities differentiate it from purely consumer-focused OTA competitors.
5. Easy Trip Planners Limited (EaseMyTrip)
Easy Trip Planners, operating as EaseMyTrip, runs an online travel platform where customers book flights, reserve hotels, pick holiday packages, and buy bus tickets, distinguished by its zero-commission model for flight bookings that has attracted significant price-conscious customer adoption. The company has built a strong publicly listed presence on Indian stock exchanges and is frequently cited among India’s leading online travel agencies for its straightforward self-service booking approach for flights and hotels.
EaseMyTrip serves cost-conscious travellers seeking straightforward self-service flight and hotel bookings with its zero-commission booking model, and represents the value-oriented segment of India’s online travel agency market that competes primarily on pricing transparency and booking simplicity.
6. Indian Hotels Company Limited (Taj Hotels)
Indian Hotels Company Limited, the hospitality arm of the Tata Group, is often seen as a market leader in India’s hospitality and tourism infrastructure with its expansive hotel network under the iconic Taj brand, recognised for premium services and a large domestic and international footprint. The company operates across the luxury, premium, and select service hotel categories and is one of the most significant beneficiaries of India’s growing domestic and international tourism, particularly in the premium leisure and business travel segments.
Indian Hotels Company serves premium leisure travellers, business travellers, and destination wedding clients with its Taj-branded luxury and premium hospitality properties across India and internationally, and represents the hospitality infrastructure side of India’s tourism ecosystem that complements the booking and planning services of travel agencies.
7. Cox and Kings Limited
Cox and Kings, one of India’s oldest travel companies, is rebuilding its market position after the 2019 insolvency that significantly impacted its operations and reputation. The company is gradually re-establishing itself in the traditional escorted tour and group travel segment, working to restore its historically strong brand recognition built over more than two centuries of travel industry operations, though its market presence and scale in 2026 remain significantly reduced from its earlier dominant position.
Cox and Kings serves traditional group tour and escorted travel customers as it rebuilds its market position following financial restructuring, and its historical brand legacy continues to carry some recognition value even as the company works to re-establish its operational scale and customer trust in India’s competitive travel market.
8. Kesari Tours Private Limited
Kesari Tours, a well-established Indian travel company, has built a particularly strong reputation for senior-friendly travel with slower-paced itineraries, ground-floor hotel room arrangements where possible, and trained staff who understand the specific needs of older travellers. The company is especially popular for honeymoon tours, temple tourism, and family packages, with a strong reputation in South Indian regions for quality and trust built over years of consistent service delivery to traditional group tour travellers.
Kesari Tours serves senior travellers, honeymoon couples, and families seeking temple tourism and traditional group tour experiences with its specially designed senior-friendly travel programs, and is particularly well-regarded in South India for combining religious and cultural tourism expertise with attentive service for traditional Indian travel preferences.
9. Mahindra Holidays and Resorts India Limited (Club Mahindra)
Mahindra Holidays and Resorts India, operating under the Club Mahindra brand and part of the Mahindra Group, is one of India’s leading vacation ownership and leisure hospitality companies offering timeshare-based resort vacations across a network of properties in India and internationally. The company has built a loyal member base through its vacation ownership model that allows customers to pre-purchase future holiday stays at Club Mahindra’s growing resort network, representing a distinctive business model within India’s broader tourism and hospitality sector.
Club Mahindra serves vacation ownership members and leisure travellers seeking resort-based holidays through its membership-based timeshare model, and its growing network of owned and partner resort properties across India and abroad gives it a distinctive recurring revenue tourism business model that differs from transactional travel booking platforms.
10. India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC)
India Tourism Development Corporation, a public sector company under the Ministry of Tourism, builds and manages tourism infrastructure in India, running hotels, restaurants, tourist transport services, and duty-free shops at various locations across the country. The company also provides advisory services on tourism infrastructure projects for state governments and other tourism stakeholders, playing an important role in developing and maintaining government-owned tourism assets that complement private sector hospitality and travel companies.
ITDC serves domestic and international tourists through its government-managed hotels, transport services, and duty-free retail outlets, and plays a strategically important role in developing and maintaining public tourism infrastructure particularly in destinations and segments that may not attract sufficient private sector investment on their own.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q: Which is the most popular travel company in India in 2026?
A: MakeMyTrip is India’s most recognised travel brand in the digital space with its app downloaded over 75 million times. The travel agency landscape has consolidated substantially, with major OTAs including MakeMyTrip, Cleartrip, Yatra, and Goibibo now dominating the online booking market, while traditional agencies like Thomas Cook India have moved upmarket to focus on customised tours and corporate travel.
Q: What is the growth outlook for India’s tourism industry?
A: International tourist arrivals are projected to reach 30.5 million by 2028, and the World Travel and Tourism Council projects India’s Travel and Tourism GDP to grow at an average rate of 7.1 percent annually over the next decade. The culinary arts tourism market alone is estimated at USD 19.38 billion in 2026, expected to reach USD 66.27 billion by 2033 at a 19.2 percent CAGR, reflecting strong niche tourism growth alongside overall sector expansion.
Q: Should I book directly with airlines or use an OTA in India?
A: For domestic flights and hotels, many travel experts recommend booking directly with airlines like IndiGo, Air India, and Vistara and hotel websites when possible, since OTAs typically charge a 5 to 10 percent markup. However, OTAs like MakeMyTrip and EaseMyTrip offer convenience through combined package booking, frequent promotional deals, bank partnership benefits, and the ability to compare multiple options on a single platform, which can outweigh the markup for many travellers.
Q: What is the difference between an OTA and a traditional travel agency in India?
A: An Online Travel Agency like MakeMyTrip or EaseMyTrip offers self-service digital booking through websites and apps, best suited for straightforward flights and hotel bookings where travellers want to research and book independently. A traditional travel agency like Thomas Cook India or Kesari Tours provides full-service planning including itinerary design, escorted tours, visa assistance, and personalised support, better suited for travellers who want a team to handle everything from planning through execution.
Q: Which travel companies in India are best for senior citizens?
A: Kesari Tours, Veena World, and SOTC are particularly well-regarded for senior-friendly travel in India. They design slower-paced itineraries, ensure ground-floor hotel rooms where possible, and have trained staff who understand the specific needs of older travellers, making them preferred choices for elderly travellers seeking comfortable and well-supported group tour experiences.
