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| © Getty Images PHOTO: Traveling female walking on European city street. (photo via AnnaTamila / iStock / Getty Images Plus) |
By Janeen Christoff, TravelPulse
It has been said that 2018 is the “year of the woman.” While that may be debatable from a political standpoint, from a travel perspective, it's definitely becoming a trend.
More and more women are traveling globally and they are doing so on their own. A new Global Solo Travel Study conducted by British Airways found that nearly 50 percent of women globally have taken a holiday by themselves, with 75 percent of women planning a solo trip in the next few years.
When American women are singled out, close to half of the women who took solo trips were between the ages of 18-25 when they took their first solo trip. That is the highest percentage among the age groups surveyed and shows that younger women feel freer to take a getaway on their own.
Research also shows that when women travel alone, they like it, with more than half have taken more than one solo trip.
When it comes to where they want to go, American solo female travelers overwhelmingly prefer the U.S. and Europe. Fifty-eight percent said that they had taken a solo trip in the States and 52 percent said that they traveled to Europe alone.
What drives these women to head out on the road solo? Independence is key. Fifty-six percent of women said they like having a room to themselves, and 45 percent liked being the one to choose where to stay and where to eat.
Many women, 33 percent, are traveling alone to get over a break-up with a significant other.
One of the more difficult aspects for solo travelers is extra expenses but as the solo travel trend grows, more and more tour operators and cruise lines, which typically book rooms and cabins based on double occupancy, are catering to solo travelers by waving single supplements on trips.
