The Journey Women

With a striking rise in the number of female travellers across the globe, women-only travel agencies in India are going all out to tap this fastgrowing segment.

- Harini Sriram

When Revati Athreya, a homemaker in Bengaluru, decided to ring in the New Year in Sri Lanka, she was clear that she wanted to travel solo. “I had never travelled alone before, and having taken a sabbatical from work recently, I felt that it was the perfect time for me to go backpacking. My family has been supportive and they understand I need some downtime. The holiday was eye-opening in so many ways; I met amazing people and I’ve already planned my next holiday to the Northeast with my bunch of women friends,” she gushes. Plenty of Indian women have embraced the idea of travelling solo or in groups, despite looming safety concerns. According to a study titled “Key Indicators Of Domestic Tourism In India” conducted between 2014 and 2015 by the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO), about 40 percent of all domestic solo trips in India were done by women, with Punjab topping the list (66 percent of solo trips were by women), followed by the southern states of Telangana, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.