Srinagar, Oct 15 (KNS): Transport accounts for the largest separately recorded component of expenditure on domestic overnight trips to Jammu and Kashmir, with households spending an estimated ?5,495 per trip on travel, according to government survey data accessed by Kashmir News Service (KNS).

Data from the National Statistics Office's Domestic Tourism Expenditure Survey (DTES), conducted between July 2025 and June 2026, shows that transport expenditure alone accounted for approximately 28 per cent of the average ?19,625 spent on an overnight household trip to Jammu and Kashmir.

Accommodation expenditure averaged ?2,411 per trip, while spending on food and beverages stood at ?2,673.

The figures indicate that transport costs exceeded accommodation expenditure by ?3,084 and food expenditure by ?2,822, highlighting the substantial share of travel-related expenses in the overall cost of domestic trips to the Union Territory.

According to the survey records, expenditure on shopping and purchases averaged ?2,623 per trip, while spending on recreation, religious activities, health-related services and other activities covered under the relevant expenditure category averaged ?1,856.

The survey also recorded an average package-tour expenditure component of ?4,339 per household trip. Package expenditure is recorded separately from individual spending categories to avoid counting the same expenses twice.

A comparison with other Himalayan destinations reveals differences in the composition of travel expenditure.

For Himachal Pradesh, average transport expenditure stood at ?4,662 per overnight household trip, compared with ?3,803 for Uttarakhand.Click Here To Follow Our WhatsApp Channel

Jammu and Kashmir's estimated transport expenditure was therefore ?833 higher than Himachal Pradesh's and ?1,692 higher than Uttarakhand's.

Accommodation expenditure, however, presented a different picture. Himachal Pradesh recorded an average of ?2,960 per trip, compared with ?2,411 for Jammu and Kashmir and ?2,292 for Uttarakhand.

Similarly, average food expenditure stood at ?2,750 for Himachal Pradesh, ?2,673 for Jammu and Kashmir and ?2,076 for Uttarakhand.

The findings suggest that the higher overall expenditure associated with trips to Jammu and Kashmir does not necessarily translate into higher spending across every category of tourism-related services.

The survey's expenditure figures cover the entire trip, including transport costs incurred before reaching the destination and expenses incurred during the return journey.

Consequently, the ?5,495 transport figure should not be interpreted as money earned exclusively by transport operators based in Jammu and Kashmir.

The figures also represent expenditure per overnight household trip rather than spending per individual tourist. They cover different purposes of domestic travel, including holidays, pilgrimage, medical treatment and other activities.

The calculations are based on 2,698 matched sample trips to Jammu and Kashmir, with the survey's prescribed statistical multipliers applied to derive expenditure estimates.

While the findings provide a detailed picture of how households allocate money during domestic trips, they do not independently establish the total revenue earned by Jammu and Kashmir's tourism industry.(KNS)