Travelling solo is the most preferred choice among Indian women, say experts

Travelling is one of the best forms of education. After all, there can't be a greater than learning about new places, cultures, people and more just by travelling to new destinations and exploring them. This can be done best when you are travelling solo--you have the freedom to travel and discover as per your free will. And Indian women are doing this increasingly.

Experts from the travel industry suggest that Indian women are travelling solo in increasing numbers.

"Solo travel has emerged as one of the most favourable options for Indian women travellers over the last two years with more than 35 per cent of Indian women opting to travel alone," HolidayIQ CEO and founder Hari Nair said.

Nair says that most Indian women are more keen on travelling solo rather than travelling with a partner or a group. He also added that the maximum number of women travelling solo are from the northern part of the country, followed by those from the south.

"Solo travellers from east are yet to gear up, compared to fellow travellers from the rest of India," he added.

According to Amit Agarwal, Senior Marketing Manager - India and SEA, Hotels.com, solo travel as a trend has caught on in a big way among the young independent Indian women.

Also read: 44 countries, 6 continents, and a month-long vacation in India; meet this solo traveller!

"Flexibility and access to information has contributed to the growth of solo women travel. Usually, the only concern is added security challenge. However, most destinations over the world have stressed on safety factors like introducing women-only buses and trains, women taxi drivers," he said.

"Many hotels have also introduced facilities for solo women travellers which have further accelerated the growth," Agrawal said.

In fact, the search data at Hotels.com from January-August this year has revealed that searches for hotels by overall solo travellers for the top 10 destinations grew by over 90 per cent as a compared to last year. This is a clear indication of the fact that solo travelling is a rising trend in Indian in any case.

There has been a rise in the number of Indian women exploring both domestic and overseas destinations in the past few years, mainly due to change in safety measures, better and safer accommodation options, improved transport and accessibility to off-beat destinations among others, he added.

"Usually, first time women prefer travelling with groups keeping the safety aspect in mind. However, this mindset is undergoing a drastic shift," he said.

(With inputs from PTI)