Wooing The 'She' Guest!

Travelling alone can be incredibly liberating for a woman. Does she need to worry about staying alone? The hospitality industry says ‘NO’. We tell you why……

- Sharmila Chand

The ‘solo lady traveller’ is the fastest growing demographic of the travel industry. As per the ‘Women Traveller Survey 2015’ done by TripAdvisor, 41 per cent out of 1,300 women surveyed had travelled alone that year. This figure was 37 per cent in the 2014 survey.

What’s more, Indian women seem to be more independent than their global counterparts. Close to 29 per cent said travelling solo changed their thinking about life; the global average was 15 percent.

Piya Bose, a corporate lawyer turned-travel enthusiast who has founded ‘Girls on the Go’, a women’s-only travel club that takes members to new and exotic destinations, says, “Indian women now have the time and finances to explore the world and are finally packing their bags to travel to distant places like Mongolia and Antarctica without dragging family and friends along.”

“Statistics also reveal that fewer Indian women now perceive travelling alone in India as unsafe — only 11 per cent this year as against 33 per cent last year,” says Nikhil Ganju, Country Manager, TripAdvisor India.

The hospitality industry has latched on to the trend. A lot of hotel chains have started offering packages and programmes exclusively for women guests.