Mumbai: Easy access to information and bookings is encouraging Indian women to slowly step out of their comfort zone to travel solo, a trend which has witnessed a steady growth over the last few year, according to experts.
"Solo travel is one of the most favourable options for Indian women travellers over the last two years with more than 35 per cent of Indian women opting to travel alone," HolidayIQ Chief Executive Officer and founder Hari Nair told PTI.
He said most women travelling single, prefer one out of every five trips to travel as couple or with group.
Majority of these solo women travellers belong to northern region of the country followed by south, he said.
"Solo travellers from east are yet to gear up, compared to fellow travellers from the rest of India," he added.
Hotels.com Senior Marketing Manager--India and SEA—Amit Agarwal said solo travel as a trend has caught on in a big way among the young independent Indian women.
"Flexibility and access to information has contributed to the growth of solo women travel. Usually, the only concern is added security challenge. However, most destinations over the world have stressed on safety factors like introducing women-only buses and trains, women taxi drivers," he said.
"Many hotels have also introduced facilities for solo women travellers which have further accelerated the growth," Agrawal said.
He said according to the search data at Hotels.com from January-August this year, searches for hotels by overall solo travellers for the top 10 destinations grew by over 90 per cent from last year.
There has been a rise in the number of Indian women exploring both domestic and overseas destinations in the past few years, mainly due to change in safety measures, better and safer accommodation options, improved transport and accessibility to off-beat destinations among others, he added.
"Usually, first time women prefer travelling with groups keeping the safety aspect in mind. However, this mindset is undergoing a drastic shift," he said.
Cox and Kings, Head, Relationships, Karan Anand said solo travelling by Indian women has grown by 20 per cent against the previous year.
"We have observed that solo women travellers like to travel throughout the year irrespective of the season. Most of the office-going women choose the holiday dates corresponding to the public holidays or extended weekends. Off-season travel is also popular among solo women travellers as they take advantage of low-cost deals," he added.
Ezeego1 CEO and Director Neelu Singh said the company witnessed a growth of 25 per cent this year over 19 per cent last year in the solo women travel segment.
"This can be attributed to the growing tribe of women-only travellers who are upwardly-mobile, educated and financially independent and more so want to celebrate their individuality and sense of freedom," she said.
"Also, easy accessibility to book tickets online or through mobile apps, information about destinations offered is available at their fingertips contributed to this growth," Singh added.
Women travelling alone definitely prefer international destinations for reasons like safety or to experience a different culture.
However, recently India is growing as a popular destination for solo women travellers because of its massive and diverse offerings, she added.
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