Solo travel by women has grown in popularity year after year, but there are no clear data on the scale of violence against female solo travelers.
Hostelworld, an online hostel-booking platform, found in a 2018 study that bookings by solo female travelers increased by 45% from 2015 to 2017, compared with a 40% increase for men
The online travel company 101 Singles Holidays found in a study of more than 60,000 British travelers that the number of people booking solo holidays rose by 14% in 2017 from 2016, and that tour operators were predicting a further rise of 11% in 2018. Solo female travelers also outnumbered their male counterparts by almost two to one, the study showed.
A 2018 global survey by British Airways of 9,000 women found that more than 50% had taken a solo vacation, with 75% of the women surveyed planning solo trips in the next few years. Another ad hoc sign of women’s growing interest in hitting the road alone: web searches for “solo female travel” have also risen drastically in the past five years, according to Google Trends.
Most countries do not comprehensively track violence against female travelers.
Global agencies such as the United Nations have traditionally collected data on gender violence as a whole. The US State Department offers tips for women but does not break down data on violence against travelers by gender, a spokesman says.
Source: Independent.co.uk
