Even as their has been an increase in number of incidents highlighting the lack of women safety in the country, according to a recent survey by travel portal MakeMyTrip 49 per cent of women feel safe travelling in India. The survey added that increasing number of women in the country are also open to travelling solo.
“Despite the recent spate of incidents highlighting the lack of safety for women in India, women travellers in the country appear fairly high on confidence,” the travel portal said.
It added, “There have been recent claims of foreign inbound travel being impacted due to negative sentiment surrounding safety of women in the country, but our country’s women take the lead in showing how to tackle these concerns,”.
Forty four per cent of women leisure-travellers in India have travelled alone. The survey said women across age-groups are increasingly taking to travelling in all-women groups of friends or even strangers to destinations both within and outside India. Of the 43 per cent women who have travelled in an all-women group, 80 per cent had travelled within India, 15 per cent overseas, while 5 per cent did a mix of both.
Mohit Gupta, Chief Business Officer, Holidays, MakeMyTrip said, “In the past few years we have seen queries and bookings from women travellers increase significantly. Not only are women decision-makers when it comes to a holiday-destination preference, but a lot of them have taken the purchase decision in their hands.”
He added that women are now making independent trips with friends, colleague and groups with shared interests largely due to increasing incomes, paucity of time to coordinate holidays with all family members, and a growing number of financially secure women in the 40-70 year age-group, among other reasons.
In the survey, Goa emerged respondents’ favourite travel destination across demographics. A majority of 72 per cent women opted for Goa, while Ladakh occupied the second-favourite spot with 12 per cent votes, and Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Kashmir were tied at the third spot with 5 per cent votes each. The Andamans followed close behind with 4 per cent votes.
