Skift Take
A growing trend of married older women traveling solo points to a broader societal shift of lifestyle choices as travel companies adapt to this diverse demographic with tailored and safe experiences.
More women are traveling alone, and tour operators and travel companies are seeing a surge in older, married women embarking on these solo adventures.
In 2023, the most common South African travelers booking with Flight Centre were women traveling solo, with an average age of 52: 38% of its customers booked solo, compared to 22% of bookings for couples, 6% for families and 6% for small-group bookings.
"We're seeing a sharp rise in solo female travelers," said Antoinette Turner, general manager in South Africa for Flight Centre, one of the country's largest travel agencies. Flight Centre has also seen a 15% increase in solo traveler bookings, compared to 11% pre-pandemic, for tours conducted by The Travel Corporation brands Costsaver, Trafalgar, Insight, and Luxury Gold, over the past year. Women made 81% of these bookings.
Solo Female Boomer TravelersA report by Road Scholar, a Boston-based tour operator of educational group travel for older adults, sees a similar trend among older women traveling without t