Rise in Solo Travel Amongst Indian Women: TripAdvisor Survey 2015

• Delhi tops the chart third year in a row as the most unsafe city for women travellers with 95% votes

• Ahmedabad retains the title of the ‘safest city’ for women travelers with 91% votes followed by Pune (90%). Mumbai dislodges Bangalore to claim #3 spot with 88% votes

• 47% respondents said travelling solo gave them the freedom of doing whatever they wanted; 39% said they liked the independence and challenge of travelling on their own

• Indian solo women travellers rank higher than their global peers on the sense of adventure (22% India vs 9% globally) and confidence (22% India vs 15% globally) they get from their travel

Just ahead of the International Women’s Day, TripAdvisor, the worlds largest travel site revealed the findings from its annual Women Traveller Survey 2015, collected from 1300 female respondents in India¹. The survey, now in its third year is aimed at understanding the travel sentiment and preferences of Indian women while travelling solo or as part of an all-women group. For the first time this year, the survey draws comparison across 9 other geographies apart from India that include Australia, US, UK, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Russia and Southeast Asia. 10,481 female travellers participated in the survey globally (including India).

According to Nikhil Ganju, Country Manager, TripAdvisor India “It is encouraging to see an increasing number of Indian women travellers planning solo travel despite the challenges that confront them. Also, it appears that lesser Indian women now perceive travelling alone in India as unsafe (only 11% this year versus 33% last year). However, foreign destinations are still perceived to be safer with only 1% of Indian women indicating nervousness about travelling alone abroad. Clearly, much needs to be done by way of perception management as well as actual safety measures on the ground, for Indian women to feel safer in their own country, and for them to continue to pursue their desires to travel solo freely and confidently.

Safety – Not Such a Bitter Pill Anymore

• Among the 59% respondents who have never travelled alone, only a 10% felt it was unsafe to travel in India. Other reasons include:

• They prefer having a companion (42%)

• 22% have not had the opportunity to travel alone so far

• 10% felt it was outside their comfort zone

• However, one cannot completely negate the safety aspect. 41% female travellers who have travelled alone polled:

• Delhi/NCR as the most unsafe city amongst the top 10 Indian cities polled* followed by Jaipur and Kolkata

• Among the safest cities polled, Ahmedabad leads the way followed by Pune and Mumbai. Bangalore drops to #5 spot this year from #3 last year

• When asked about the precautions Indian women take when travelling alone, majority of women avoid going out late at night (79%), they tell or text someone where they are going (45%) and avoid quiet streets (41%)

• They also want to feel safe with their choice of accommodation (72%) with hotel chains being the most popular choice when travelling on their own (63%)

Travel Sentiment Of The Solo Women Travellers

The majority of Indian women travellers say that they travel alone because it gives them the freedom of doing whatever they want (47%), they like the independence and challenge of travelling on their own (39%) and their family or friends do not have the time or resource to travel with them (28%).

Travelling alone has helped them to be more independent and self-reliant (59%), to be more confident (42%) and to learn something about others or other cultures (39%).

Exploring Their Own Backyard Is On Top Of The List

Of the 41% Indian women travellers who have travelled alone:

• 70% plan to take up to 4 solo holidays in 2015

• 79% are planning to travel alone in their own country i.e. India is the favorite, followed by Europe (38%) and Asia (28%)

More The Merrier – Travelling In A Group

In addition to solo travel, women’s getaways i.e. women travelling in groups are also popular amongst Indian women. Out of the 40% who polled that they travel in a group, majority say they have been on such trips because “they want to re-connect with their friends” (56%) and “they enjoy visiting cultural, arts attractions and doing the same things on a holiday” (51%). 36% disclosed such trips gave them “a break from family life”.

When holidaying with friends, staying in hotel chains is the most popular choice of accommodation (67%) for such trips.

Indian women are also seeking luxurious holidays with close to half (47%) of women admitting that they indulge themselves by – going to an international or exotic location (61%), taking customized tours and experiences (58%) or staying in hotel suites with their female counterparts (27%).

Favourite Activities For Women Travellers: Solo vs Group

How Indian Women Travellers Match-Up To Their Global Peers

• The sense of adventure (22%) and confidence (22%) is much higher amongst Indian women solo travellers as compared to the global averages for both. Only 9% global solo women travellers said their trips gave them a sense of adventure and confidence (15%)

• 18% Indian women travellers polled that travelling solo helped them save money v/s the global average of just 3%

• 29% Indian and 22% South-East Asian women travellers polled that travelling solo has changed the way they think about life as compared to the global average of 15%

• 16% of Indian and South-East Asian solo women travelers also feel that their journeys have changed the way they live their life v/s just 11% globally

• Indian solo women travellers love their shopping (59%) way more than their global peers (43%)

• Indians solo women travellers are way more cautious than their global peers on their journey with 79% saying they avoid going out late at night v/s the global average of 64%

• Among the top international destinations for solo women travellers globally (according to TripAdvisor review data), India ranks a dismal # 53 behind countries such as Argentina, Brazil, Peru, China etc.

Hotel Reviews Influence Female Travel Bookings

When it comes to researching the hotels to book for their holidays, Indian women are a savvy bunch with the most popular method being reading online hotel reviews (92%), followed by comparing hotel prices from travel websites (62%) and researching hotel websites (50%).

Good user reviews (86%) are the biggest influence on their choice of hotels, followed by best value (69%) and convenience (47%).

Note to Media

¹The survey was conducted online in February 2015 among TripAdvisor’s survey panels across India, Australia, US, UK, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Russia and Southeast Asia. 10,481 female travellers responded to the survey globally with 1300 from India.

*The cities included in this particular question were Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Kolkata, Surat, Pune, Jaipur – according to population.

About TripAdvisor

TripAdvisor is the worlds largest travel site*, enabling travelers to plan and book the perfect trip. TripAdvisor offers trusted advice from travelers and a wide variety of travel choices and planning features with seamless links to booking tools that check hundreds of websites to find the best hotel prices. TripAdvisor branded sites make up the largest travel community in the world, reaching 315 million unique monthly visitors**, and more than 200 million reviews and opinions covering more than 4.5 million accommodations, restaurants and attractions. The sites operate in 45 countries worldwide, including China under daodao.com. TripAdvisor also includes TripAdvisor for Business, a dedicated division that provides the tourism industry access to millions of monthly TripAdvisor visitors.

TripAdvisor, Inc. (NASDAQ: TRIP) manages and operates websites under 24 other travel media brands: www.airfarewatchdog.com, www.bookingbuddy.com, www.cruisecritic.com, www.everytrail.com, www.familyvacationcritic.com, www.flipkey.com, www.thefork.com (including www.lafourchette.com, www.eltenedor.com and www.iens.nl), www.gateguru.com, www.holidaylettings.co.uk, www.holidaywatchdog.com, www.independenttraveler.com, www.jetsetter.com, www.niumba.com, www.onetime.com, www.oyster.com, www.seatguru.com, www.smartertravel.com, www.tingo.com, www.travelpod.com, www.tripbod.com, www.vacationhomerentals.com, www.viator.com, www.virtualtourist.com, and www.kuxun.cn.

*Source: comScore Media Metrix for TripAdvisor Sites, worldwide, December 2014

**Source: Google Analytics, average monthly unique users, Q3 2014; does not include traffic to daodao.com

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