Solo Travellers: British Airways study says 47% Indian women enjoyed independent travel

The global airline travel industry is witnessing a new trend in rising number of independent female passengers, and of these female travellers, Indian women's contribution is significant. This revelation has come to fore in a British Airways (BA) study. The BA has released the Global Solo Travel Study into the who, what and why of the trend across the world, and to understand which locations are the most tempting for true escapism.  
 
The BA Global Solo Travel Study of almost 9,000 18-64-year olds across UK, US, France, India, Germany, Italy, Brazil and China found that over 50 per cent of women have taken a holiday by themselves, with 75 per cent of women planning a solo trip in the next few years. 
 
According to the BA study, almost 47 percent of Indian women said they have travelled alone, for at least 2 – 5 times and 30 percent of Indian travellers intend to travel in the next 2-3 months. Maximum number of solo travellers in India are between the age of 18 – 25. 
 
The survey said that Indian travellers hopped/skipped continents the most with 37 percent have travelled solo to Europe and 33 per cent exploring the UAE and Middle East. 
 
Travel blogger and organise of solo travel trips for single female traveller Zanna Van Dijk comments, “It is undoubtable that modern travel has changed. What women are looking for with time to themselves is to explore, discover and uncover. We are no longer bound by traditional family holiday concepts or stigma around heading out alone."
 
The study also talked about most adventurous traveller, and ascertained that in Italy 63 per cent of women 18-65 have explored another country alone, followed by Germany at 60 per cent. The least inclined to venture overseas with only 16 per cent, were women from the US. 
 
Notably, German travellers go solo the most often, with one in 5 having treated themselves to a solo trip over 10 times, but the nation most willing to travel long distance is China, with almost 50 per cent flying over 11 hours for their last international experience.
 
Those looking to part from the crowd for an original solo holiday can fly on British Airways routes to Dubai, as other than Indian voyagers, the UAE and Middle East is the path least explored for solo journeys, with under 10 per cent having visited, said the study. 
 
British Airways’ Managing Director for BA Holidays, said: “At British Airways our 16,000 incredible cabin crew operate more than 800 flights a day to over 200 destinations. They are travel experts, they often spot new trends and most importantly they understand the needs of our customers. What kept coming back to us through the research we’ve done and anecdotally from our crew was the rise in so many adventurous female passengers choosing to experience long and short haul destinations on their own terms” said Claire Bentley, Managing Director of British Airways Holidays. 

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With our extensive global route network, and with new destinations launching all the time, we hope that together with the information and tips included in our BA Global Solo Travel Study we can enable and inspire adventurous solo travellers to continue exploring without limit,” Claire Bentley added.