Women are the new movers. And it is just not because they are shaking up things with #MeToo. For, if latest reports are to be believed, women are travelling like never before. And it is not just with families, they’ve decided to venture out solo and in groups to faraway lands in numbers big enough to make an impact on the tourism economy. The trend is backed up by credible surveys. The German airline Lufthansa now sees, among its Indian customers, more couples and women travelling in groups, compared to its mainly corporate passengers 20 years ago. British Airways says 47 per cent of their Indian women passengers now travel alone. Oman Air now carries more holiday makers, honeymooners and corporate travellers from India to Oman than the migrant labourers the airline ferried five to six years ago.
Clearly, Indian women are living it up in the sky and how. Not surprisingly, the number of companies offering women’s only travels has gone up. From Women on Wanderlust or the WOW club, which was the first to offer the solo woman traveller the option of bonding with other women in 2004, to players who can create a customised experience for a solo traveller, the phenomenon has really picked up to offer something for every pocket. Add to it the trend of bachelorettes in exotic locales, the routine-breakers, destination school and college reunions bolstered by the financially independent woman and you have a market that is all set to grow in only one direction — upwards. Go baby, go.
