Trends

WOWing the Fair Lady

There are very few travel companies that conduct all-women tours to cater to the Indian woman who is ready to conquer the world on her own. By Reema Sisodia

Photo courtesy, Kesari Travels - My Fair Lady tours

Times are changing and along with it the definition of travel is also undergoing a metamorphosis. From the time when it was taboo for women to socialise with their male counterparts after a certain time in the evening to the era were they are daring to travel alone or, things have come a long way. This change has given rise to a completely new business idea of conducting exclusive all-women tours.

Today, there is a sudden sense of awakening and the zest to explore life and live with a feeling of independence. Women travelling alone or with other women - whether familiar or unknown - is definitely on the rise. Anita Singh Soin, director of Ibex Expedition, says the women's adventure tours organised by her company is one of the most popular packages. Women from various regions, age brackets, professions, and situations come together and bond during these tours.

Mumbai-based Kesari Tours has recently launched its My Fair Lady tours. Pioneered by the company's chairman and MD, Veena Patil, these tours are designed and formulated exclusively for women travellers. It's a tour for women who wish to travel independently but are reluctant to travel alone. It is for all women of all ages - students, single women, housewives, grandmothers. It also provides twin-sharing facilities for individual travellers.

Says Patil, "Women dream of travelling but at times family and other commitments keep them from this. Then comes a phase when they think they can venture out. Therefore, I feel that women having fulfilled their responsibilities can then fulfill their dreams. Simply put, the My Fair Lady tour is about adventure, discovery, learning and friendship. It is about meeting new and exciting people, exploring new destinations and creating new friends and finding a new you."

Sumitra Senapaty's WOW Club (Women on Wanderlust) is yet another example of catering to this trend in the Indian environment. Says Senapaty, "I have travelled to various parts of the world on work assignments and noticed that there are women travelling on their own and clearly enjoying it. This trend is soon picking up in India. It started in my own extended family when a few years ago I was asked to set up and co-ordinate a family trip to Kerala with my aunts and cousins - all female. We did Cochin, Munnar and the backwaters and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. I realised that apart from tourism, what we were enjoying was 'girl time'. No matter what the age, women do have the ability to bond with each other. Sensing this new trend, I thought of starting WOW for solo women travel, but in groups where safety and security are top priorities."

For Senapaty, the response is tremendous, wherein women feel that this is a platform for them to interact with other women from different parts of India - they come in as strangers and depart as friends. They feel empowered. "Apart from urban women living in cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai and Bangalore, women from places like Surat, Ahmedabad, Allahabad, Indore, Lucknow, Trichinapalli and Mangalore have contacted us. They are in the age group of 20 to 55 and are in various professions - law, investment banking, teaching, corporate executives, techies, government employees, HR, BPOs, doctors, dentists, trainers, self-employed, homemakers and retired citizens. Marital status is a mix of single, married, divorced and widowed," adds Senapaty.