Surveys reveal how Indian women, especially 50-year-olds, are stepping out of their homes to travel alone. By Team Viva
Women in India are travelling solo now more than ever before. And guess what? Not just milennial women, but also those who are 50 and above. Earlier, the idea of a 50-year-old women traveling would evoke the image of a pilgrim but older women are challenging themselves with trekking, parasailing, river rafting and are seeking adventures all on their own.
Surveys reveal that a new generation of post-liberalisation women are redefining life after they realise that they have enough time to explore the world now that their kids have grown up. They feel that hitting 50 means they can kick off a second and active version of life. This is not just in terms of travelling to places. Some are using their experiences to become social media influencers too, moneytising their sojourns and making others envy their lives.
As per a survey, Indian women already make up a significant portion of India’s domestic travel. According to a report by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, more than half of all single member overnight domestic trips made in India between 2014 and 2015 were by female travelers. A recent study states that the number of women travelling alone in India and abroad is on the rise — 41 per cent women traveled alone in 2014 as compared to 37 per cent in the previous year. Among those surveyed, 47 per cent said they travel alone for a sense of freedom, 39 per cent travel for the challenge, and the 28 per cent travel alone as their family or friends do not have the time or resource to travel with them.
Well, the growing connectivity and easy networking have made families more carefree in terms of letting their daughters and mothers walk out of their premises alone. According to a report by PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Indian women turned out to be among the most confident travellers in the world.
Another report by the Singapore Tourism Board highlights the peculiarities among Indian women travellers. It shows that they prefer to spend more on flights, food and accommodation to refrain from the last-minute booking hassles. They prefer travel agents for customised packages and love to travel to the locations of iconic Bollywood movies.
As more Indians adopt the travel culture, the demographic is undergoing a constant change as well. They are not just corporate or business travellers anymore, but more of women travellers flying and holidaying alone. Various airlines like Lufthansa reveal that there was a higher attendance of corporate passengers around 20 years ago compared to today’s scenario that accommodates more of couples and women travelling in groups. British Airways have noticed a surge in solo Indian women travellers rising to around 47 per cent while Oman Air now carries more holidaymakers, honeymooners and corporate travellers from India to Oman than the migrant labourers the airline ferried five to six years ago.
With better incomes and a more solid sense of the self in older women, they know what they want and they just want to fly.