Indians have moved on from guidebooks, and traditional travel agents planned tours. The travel here has evolved into something that is not only seeing something but to explore, discover and experience a place & culture. People have found different routes to find the destinations they want to go, accommodations to stay and food to experience through many, many travel blogs, articles and video content online. This is due to a major credit, thanks to the growing base of travel influencers in India who document their journeys, share honest reviews and inspire people to pack their backpacks and hop on.
You'll find a whole spectrum of content creators when it comes to Indian travel influencers - who will help you with tips for solo backpacking to taking a luxury vacation - and they will tell you everything - where they have stayed, eaten, what experiences and places they have explored. Hence, it has become essential for organisations in the travel space to collaborate with the top travel influencers in India for a wholesome and successful marketing of their business.
Let's dive into the details of who these explorers are, what makes them popular, and list the top travel influencers in India across Instagram and YouTube.
Who Are Travel Influencers?
These are content creators who go on trips, document their whole travel experience and put out content related to it across social media channels like Instagram, YouTube or online blogs. Their content usually has reviews of various destinations and what you should and shouldn't do, reviews about the accommodations they took and recommendations, full itineraries of places that you can follow, cultural dos and don'ts - and all this packed into a very presentable and attractive-looking video or reel.
The content created by travel influencers in India is more relatable and better consumed by the audience since it's more visual and easily digestible through short-form content such as Instagram reels or YouTube shorts, as compared to traditional, written travel guides, which are, at times, boring to read through. Since these people have built an online community of followers with some level of trust and loyalty, their recommendations are more easily followed than a brochure.
Most Indian travel influencers earn through brand collaborations, tourism campaigns, hotel partnerships, affiliate links, and digital products.
Why Travel Influencers Are Popular in India?
The major reasons for the travel influencers' popularity in India are:
- The country is vast. It's extremely diverse, geographically and culturally, and there's so much to explore. Influencers come from different places and help the audience discover new destinations beyond what's popular.
- Content creation for social media channels has become easier and more affordable with better smartphones, and with more people having internet access, it's easier for creators to shoot as well as users to research and find content.
- The influencers in India operate in a wide range of sub-genres in travel. Many produce content in local languages, which is easier to understand. You will find influencers in budget travel to luxury travel to find the best recommendations as per your needs.
- Finally, the growing base of female travel influencers in India has inspired, encouraged, and, with various initiatives and collaborations, made it possible for females to do safe solo travels, which breaks a long-standing stereotype.
Top 10 Travel Influencers in India
Tanya Khanijow
Follower Count:
- YouTube: 2.16M+
- Instagram: 1.1M+
Travel Niche: Solo travel, international travel
Why They Are Popular:
Tanya is one of the most respected female travel influencers in India, known for honest storytelling and cultural exploration. She considers herself a digital nomad, a realistic sustainability advocate and an entrepreneur.
Unique Storytelling Style:
Narrative-led vlogs with personal reflections.
Aakanksha Monga
Follower Count:
- Instagram: 1.4M+
- YouTube: 952K+
Travel Niche: Solo travel, budget travel
Why They Are Popular:
Her channel is all about blending her two biggest passions: travel and personal growth.
Her bio dictates that she is on a mission to help her followers live their best lives by sharing insights on personal development, mindset shifts, and tips to live a life full of adventure and purpose. She has also been featured on Forbes India's cover recently.
Unique Storytelling Style:
Informative yet friendly content with actionable advice.
Bruised Passports (Savi & Vid)
Platforms: Instagram, YouTube, Blog
Follower Count:
- Instagram: 1.2M+
- YouTube: 56.8K+
Travel Niche: Luxury travel, couple travel
Why They Are Popular:
Their YouTube channel bio dictates that they are India's leading travel influencers. The couple has visited over 100 countries together. They share videos about travel, travel fashion, packing tips, and travel beauty. They are pioneers of professional travel blogging; this Indian couple is the forerunner of the digital entrepreneurship sphere. Bruised Passports has won several awards from esteemed publications such as Outlook Travel and Travel & Leisure for its work in the travel influencer industry. Their story has also been featured heavily on several TV channels and newspapers, including Discovery Channel, National Geographic, CNN, Forbes and BBC and published as a best-selling book by Harper Collins. They also have their own app containing recommendations and their store.
Unique Storytelling Style:
Polished visuals with in-depth destination storytelling.
Shenaz Treasury
Follower Count:
- Instagram: 1.4M+
- YouTube: 660K+
Travel Niche: Sustainable travel, Lifestyle travel, solo travel
Why They Are Popular:
Shenaz connects deeply with audiences through honest conversations, humour, and real-life travel moments. She has also been awarded by ET for Spreading Positivity around Sustainable travel.
Unique Storytelling Style:
Conversational, story-driven reels and vlogs.
Brinda Sharma
Follower Count:
- Instagram: 1.5M+
- YouTube: 142K+
Travel Niche: Mountain travel, solo travel, adventure travel
Why They Are Popular:
Brinda Sharma was awarded Forbes Top 100 Creators 2022-‘24 and is focused on creating adventure travel content, mainly focusing on mountains. She does travel globally and solo, making her a perfect influencer for female travellers.
Unique Storfavourite Style:
Highly aesthetic visuals with editorial-style storytelling.
Anunay Sood
Follower Count:
- Instagram: 1.5M+
- YouTube: 395K+
Travel Niche: Scenic travel, experiences, photography, landscapes
Why They Are Popular:
Anunay is admired for cinematic visuals and artistic travel photography that showcases destinations in a unique light. Anunay is also a travel photographer and vlogger. Having been featured by NetGeo India, CN Traveller India, and Lonely Planet India.
Unique Storytelling Style:
Visual-first storytelling with minimal but impactful captions.
Isa Khan
Follower Count:
- Instagram: 1.5M+
- YouTube: 89.9K+
Travel Niche: Solo travel, international destinations
Why They Are Popular:
Isa Khan is known for documenting solo journeys and creating relatable travel content for young Indian audiences. He was also awarded Forbes Top 100 Creators 2024.
Unique Storytelling Style:
Personal, diary-style content with a strong emotional connection.
Larissa D'Sa
Follower Count:
- Instagram: 821K+
- YouTube: 601K+
Travel Niche: Lifestyle travel, slow travel
Why They Are Popular:
Larissa’s content focuses on meaningful travel experiences rather than just destinations. Her content is shot in a film-like style, making it super enjoyable to watch. She is a multi-award-winning content creator who is respected throughout her community.
Unique Storytelling Style:
Minimalist visuals with lifestyle-oriented storytelling.
Vishakha Fulsunge
Platforms: Instagram, YouTube
Follower Count:
- Instagram 951K+
- YouTube: 1.09M+
Travel Niche: Bike travel, adventure travel
Why They Are Popular:
Vishakha is known for promoting women-led bike travel and adventure journeys across India. She is India's First Female Motovlogger, Holder of 5 INDIA BOOK OF RECORDS, and Known for her incredible Solo Adventure Travel vlogs.
Unique Storytelling Style:
High-energy, action-focused storytelling with strong empowerment themes.
Mallu Traveler
Follower Count:
- Instagram: 2.1M+
- YouTube: 2.7M+
Travel Niche: Bike travel, international travel, storytelling, Malayalam content
Why They Are Popular:
Mallu Traveler is one of the most influential travel creators in India, having one of the highest followings in the niche and known for detailed vlogs that focus on real experiences, local culture, and practical travel advice.
Unique Storytelling Style:
Long-form, immersive travel vlogs with strong narrative flow and cultural depth.
How We Selected the Top Travel Influencers in India?
We kept the following criteria in check when selecting these top travel influencers:
- Follower base, reach and engagement
- Audience relevance in India
- Consistency of travel content
- Destination diversity
- Brand collaboration history and deliverables credibility
We wanted to ensure that our list not only lists the people with the highest number of followers but also reflects the true top travel influencers in India based on their content quality and not just virality.
Instagram vs YouTube Travel Influencers in India
- Instagram for travel influencers in India has been huge for discovery and inspiration-related content. Creators with a more lifestyle feel to their content tend to focus on Instagram as their main channel.
- YouTube creators excel at detailed itineraries and storytelling.
- Most brands use Instagram for awareness and YouTube for trust and conversion.
Top 5 Agencies to Hire Travel Influencers in India
- Excellent Publicity
- Chtrbox
- Influencer. in
- Grynow
- Pulpkey
How Brands Can Collaborate with Travel Influencers?
Brands have found innovative ways to collaborate with these influencers, but the most common ones are:
- Sponsored trips
- Hotel and airline partnerships
- Destination campaigns
- User-generated content
- Long-term brand ambassadorships
Some of the lesser-used tactics are:
- Affiliated product links embedded in the bio
- Capsule collection release
The key is aligning with influencers whose audience matches brand values.
Conclusion
Travel influencers in India have had a huge impact on their audience's travel habits and continue to do so. For the brands, as one of the most trusted influencer marketing agencies in India, we advise thinking meta and how you can be part of a bigger community and tap into this passion point of your audience. You would need a strong hold of your storytelling narrative, and if you want to build trust and authenticity through the top travel influencers in India, Excellent Publicity can help you curate a list, help negotiate and execute your influencer campaign end-to-end.
References
- https://influencers.feedspot.com/indian_travel_instagram_influencers/
That depends on what criteria you're applying to make the list. As per the number of followers on different channels, engagement rates, and type of sub-genre, the list would widely differ. However, agencies like us should be able to help you curate a customised list as per your brief. On the popularity front, creators like Taniya Khanijow, Larissa D'Sa, and Bruised Passports are widely regarded as top travel influencers in India.
Just like any other category, these influencers also earn through brand collaborations, tourism campaigns, hotel partnerships, affiliate links, and content licensing. Some of them also venture into business, launching capsule collections and accessories.
These estimates can vary widely depending on the brief, the brand, the content requirements, the platform, how long the engagement is for, and how popular the influencer is. Exclusivity and usage/promotional rights are usually charged on top of the main fee. The agency you work with also matters because agencies with long-standing and good relationships with influencers tend to be able to negotiate better rates for the brands.
Both platforms are extremely impactful in their own way. The results depend on the brand's clarity of the brief as to what funnel stage they want to target, what is more suitable with the overall brand image, style and existing content. Usually, Instagram is better for discovery, while YouTube builds deeper trust.
Brands can reach out directly, but as high volumes of briefs now pass through influencers, it's better to partner up through influencer agencies that can get you a quicker turnaround.
There are multiple factors of the brief that are at play. Based on audience relevance, engagement quality, and content authenticity, a list can be curated for initial outreach.
Yes, as these creators put in extra efforts to create their content since they're just building their channel, they often have higher engagement and niche audiences, which relays the brand message more efficiently.
Bloggers focus on written content, while influencers prioritise social platforms.