Women travellers love going solo these days. Whatever the reason — financial independence or the need to have some me time — today's women are not hesitant to go and see the world alone. India has emerged as a hot-spot for solo travellers. Another encouraging statistic that emerges from travel companies is that women aged over 50 have jumped on the bandwagon to explore new sights and sounds. “We are seeing an emerging trend of women of 50-plus age group exploring budget-friendly destinations. While women have traditionally been discouraged from travelling alone or even in small groups for various reasons, a new gen of post-liberalisation women is redefining the trend. This could be due to the fact that by fifties, they have lesser core responsibilities and with kids all grown-up, women travellers in this segment have the required time to explore the world. Increasing financial independence could be another important factor here,” opines Balu Ramachandran, head, air & distribution at Cleartrip.

Hitting 50 means kicking-off the second innings of life for many. With the ever-increasing mobile phone penetration, they catch up with the Instagram generation and become influencers in their circle by capturing various moments of their journey. Adventure tourism, too, has become a hot prospect; some of the leading adventure tourism destinations are Rishikesh, Meghalaya, and Andaman.

 Babu adds, “Women want to explore a destination with experiences like trekking in the Himalayas, biking in Manali, rafting in Rishikesh or sailing around Goa. There is a growing trend of women over the age of 50 exploring adventure destinations like the Himalayas or islands.”

Over the last three years, maximum travel searches on the platform made by women originated from tier-1 cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Chennai.