Footloose: Women Travelling Solo Are Set To Change The Face Of India’s Travel Industry
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If you have seen A recent survey jointly conducted by ixigo.com, India’s leading travel planning and search engine firm, and
“With women climbing the corporate ladder and becoming more independent, travel is becoming an intrinsic part of their lives. Also, only-women travel groups offering interesting holiday destinations and packages are luring women to take up travel. Our survey indicates 26% women travel with their girl gangs to explore new places,” said Saurabh Srivastava, VP (marketing & product strategy) at ixigo.com.
More than 550 women aged between 25 and 45 and hailing from different metros across the country, took part in
At present, women-only travellers don’t form too large a segment of India’s travel market but the concept of vacationing away from one’s family (to say nothing of business travel) is catching up fast. As per Trafalgar India, one of the leading guided holiday operators, there has been 22% rise in bookings by women’s groups and single travellers in India between October 2013 and February 2014, compared to last year.
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While women now account for more than 23% of business travellers (both domestic and outbound), the number will grow significantly in the near future, with the rise in the number of women in mid-senior executive ranks where business travel is a necessity. Over the next 20 years,
A separate survey by Trafalgar India indicates that 10% women prefer guided vacations for a guided experience, 30% for safety, 11% to meet new people, 26% for convenience and comfort while 23% women find it cost-effective.
What women want
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The Female travellers are tech-savvy: Indian women travel as frequently as once in two months (50%), with 43% booking their hotels online and 65-76% saying they only read user reviews and endorsements to make their final choice, the survey says.
Safety & comfort top priority list: For 41% women, facilities and services are the top considerations while choosing a hotel while location, cost and security have come out as other important criteria. Although security as an independent variable does not top the priority list of solo women travellers/women-only travel groups, there are clearly other surrogate considerations that indicate that safety remains a big concern. For instance, 34% women prefer to have
Feel-good add-ons matter: Well, that’s a given and who doesn’t love the nice, little extras? When asked about exclusive redemption options offered on loyalty programmes,
End-note: Older women are travelling more
This finding is not a part of the above survey but going by the fact that it has considered women aged between 25 and 45, instead of the 18-30 or 25-40 age bracket is a clear indicator that older women are calling the shots in travel space, making decision for themselves as well as for friends and families, and spending their own money for solo trips – be it a prestigious presentation, a professional seminar, visiting a beautiful place or simply chilling out to get the better of stress. According to Marybeth Bond of The Gutsy Traveller – The average adventure traveller is not a 28-year-old male, but a 47-year-old female. And she wears a size 12 dress.
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Moreover, the findings from the above surveys amply tell us what
Image credit: Thinkstock Photos/Getty Images
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