February 8th, 2022 – For immediate release
Solo Female Travelers expands its content and community management team to include Afghanistan’s first female guide as interest in women-only group travel grows by 50%.
International travel is slowly but steadily returning to pre-pandemic levels since the summer of 2021. This recovery is most visible in group travel, where interest has grown 50% in the last year and bookings show a promising upwards trend outpacing the market.
The 2021 Solo Female Travelers Trends Survey, which will be published on International Women’s Day, reveals that 63% of women traveling on their own are interested in joining a small group tour with other women, up from 41% in 2020.
Mar Pages, Co-Founder of Solo Female Travelers, says, “Women don’t want to wait for a travel companion or for restrictions to be lifted, they want to travel again in 2022 and are ready to commit with the help and confidence provided by a small group tour”.
Changing travel restrictions is the number one concern among women traveling solo, according to the survey, and worries 74% of respondents. Escorted trips outsource this uncertainty to travel specialists who have their pulse on the ground.
“Working with partners and guides every day on the ground gives us privileged access to developments that may negatively impact travel, so we can warn guests early on”, says Pages.
Despite many countries still having strict border controls in place, Solo Female Travelers Tours to bucket list destinations such as Tuscany, Greece or Iceland are practically sold out for 2022 and even 2023.
With this positive outlook and the funds provided by Facebook’s Communities Accelerator which Solo Female Travelers is a part of, the company remains committed to providing employment opportunities to women in travel by expanding its team again.
Fatima Haidari, who made headlines in 2021 as Afghanistan’s first female guide, joins a globally distributed team based in Mexico, Uruguay, Singapore and Australia. “She brings a unique and fresh perspective that connects with a younger audience newer to solo travel”, adds Pages.
Fatima had to flee Afghanistan last August and has been given political refugee status in Italy where she plans to continue her women’s rights activism and advocacy efforts in addition to a journalism degree and her work at Solo Female Travelers. “I hope to be the first solo female Afghan traveler and continue to inspire more women like me to stand up for their dreams”.
Solo Female Travelers
Solo Female Travelers is a global community of 135,000 women who love to travel solo. Founded in 2015, and led by experienced travelers and online publishers Mar Pages and Megan Jerrard, it was the world’s first English community of its kind, and today remains one of the largest and most dynamic Facebook Groups for solo female travelers.
The community is a trusted travel resource with a global footprint and members in over 100 different countries. Despite a huge cross section of age, heritage and travel experience, the group thrives on a diverse range of world views, and offers a supportive and empowering space where women from all walks of life come together for inspiration, travel advice, safety tips and to share stories and experiences.
The website, www.solofemaletravelers.club, is a hub for popular group resources, the purpose-built Solo Female Travel Safety Index, and Empowerful – the world’s first Solo Female Travel Safety, Wellness, and Sexual Wellbeing Course.
To bring its members together in person, the community also offers a range of intimate group trips for women and by women, to bucket list destinations such as Morocco, Tanzania, Iceland, or Greece, authentic immersive experiences in Catalonia, the Amalfi Coast, Venice and Tuscany.
Solo Female Travelers is a pioneering platform committed to female empowerment through travel on an international scale. Profile of the founders and high res images can be found here.
Media Contact:
Mar Pages / Megan Jerrard
Co-Founders, Solo Female Travelers
Related links:
Solo Female Travelers community https://www.facebook.com/groups/solofemaletravelers/
Team bios https://www.solofemaletravelers.club/about-us/
Solo Female Travelers website https://www.solofemaletravelers.club/
Solo Female Travelers tours https://tours.solofemaletravelers.club/