A study by British Airways has found 75 per cent of women are planning solo travel.
Solo travel is on the rise. Picture: Shutterstock
The BA Global Solo Travel Study asked 9000 18-64-year-olds across the UK, the USA, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, India and China if they planned to travel solo in the next few years. Three-quarters of the women surveyed said yes.
German travellers go solo the most often, with one in five having treated themselves to a solo trip over 10 times. The nation most willing to travel long distance is China, with almost 50 per cent flying over 11 hours for their last international experience.
The women least likely to plan solo travel were Americans.
Most of the women who said they were planning solo travel said they wanted to travel in their own country.
BA commissioned the survey after cabin crew noticed a rising number of women travelling solo on their flights.
They found many women took a solo holiday to get over a breakup. Most said solo travel gave them a sense of freedom and independence. It also allowed them to have unique experiences and to meet new people.
Could you leave the family behind and travel solo? Picture: Shutterstock
We did a quick survey of the women in the Family Travel office and found opinion was split.
Some said they would travel with friends but not solo. Others said they would travel solo if it was their partner’s turn with the kids. Many said it was more likely if you were a single parent and could leave the children with their alternate carer.
A few of us said we would go solo to wanderlust destinations we thought our children wouldn’t enjoy as much.
“What women are looking for with time to themselves is to explore, discover and uncover,” Travel blogger and organiser of solo travel trips for single female travellers, Zanna Van Dijk says.
“We are no longer bound by traditional family holiday concepts or stigma around heading out alone. I organise trips for solo travellers who are looking to push themselves. Meet like-minded individuals that they wouldn’t otherwise. I love nothing more than heading to Kenya, Thailand and Bali where travel is easy and yet there is still so much to be explored.”
British Airways found 48 per cent of women across all age grounds had travelled by themselves already. Men were more likely to have travelled solo – six out of ten saying they had already done so. But women are catching up fast.
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Travel allows you to get outside your bubble. It makes you realise there are other ways to do things, and that’s OK. Plus, I am a huge fan of skiing and for the best powder – you need to head overseas.