Women turn solo travellers, feel safer abroad

New

, Feb 26:

travellers in the country feel safer abroad than on home turf as more and more women like to travel alone. In a recent survey by travel portal TripAdvisor the country's capital tops the list of unsafe cities.

The spate of incidents in Delhi has left women travellers apprehensive about the city's safety. Both women travelling alone for leisure, business rated it so.

According to the survey the recent spate of 'crime against women in Delhi has gained notoriety with 84 per cent women claiming it to be the most unsafe metro'

On the other hand, Mumbai, has been rated as the safest city by 34 percent, while Ahmedabad and Bangalore were voted second with 12 percent votes each.

A large section comprising of 94 percent of female respondents worry about their safety, always or at least sometimes, when they travel alone in India but not when they travel to international destinations. However, even though they constantly worry about their safety, they do not carry self- defence items (like a taser, or pepper spray) when travelling to a new or unfamiliar city.

Only six per cent women said they worry when they travel abroad alone but not in India while 24 per cent respondents said they worry when they travel in India.

Among women who said they travel alone on work, 37 per cent women said they don't mind travelling alone but worry about their safety.

The survey was conducted among working women-a number of self-employed, as well as homemakers.

An interesting insight was that 78 per cent women said they would prefer to stay in an all women's hotel or on a women exclusive floor in a hotel, when travelling alone.

Increase in women travelling alone

However, the fear of security has not kept the women indoors. Breaking the tradition, the women now enjoy travelling alone for leisure. Among women who travel alone, 41 percent respondents said they actually enjoyed travelling alone for work. In addition, 76 percent said they enjoy going solo on holidays.

And for 58 percent the biggest incentive for solo vacations was that they could do all the things they want without having to worry about what someone else wants. About 34 percent women loved travelling alone as it was adventurous and exciting, with 32 percent saying the thrill of managing everything by themselves was a motivator as well.

Oneindia News