India has found a place among the top 10 countries for cross-country travel in an index of 118 countries by vacation homes aggregator Holidu.

The index took into account several factors that are important for anyone planning a road trip such as attractions like the Unesco World Heritage sites, wildlife, natural assets, range of landscapes, the number of cosmopolitan cities, as well as logistical factors including the quality of roads, gas prices, and average holiday rental prices.

India features at No. 10 on the list that is led by the United States, Mexico, and Canada, in that order.

India is ahead of the countries such as France, Germany, Japan, Turkey, and Spain, all of them being traditional tourist magnets.

The cross-country travel index has assessed countries on the basis of the attractions they are home to, their land size, the number of known vertebrate species, ranking of natural assets like beaches and parks, number of rainforests/jungles, mountains, deserts beaches, glaciers, forests and the number of 'Best Cities' in the top 100 rankings.

According to a report by The Times of India, FAITH, the policy federation of all the national associations representing the complete tourism, travel and hospitality industry of India also referred the index to the tourism ministry and said the rankings should form a vital cornerstone of India’s post-Covid global repositioning and marketing campaigns.

India's 40 UNESCO world heritage sites, nearly 1900 species of animals and at least two cities, Delhi and Mumbai, pushed India ahead of the traditionally popular tourist destinations.

The index also accounted for the quality of roads in India, the prices of fuel and also pegged the average weekly rentals for cross country travel in India at under Rs 13,000 per week.