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On the occasion of International Women’s Day this year, Express TravelWorld organised an exclusive round table discussion titled ‘Women on the Go’ at Express Towers in Mumbai. The discussion focused on the increasing number of women travellers travelling both for leisure and business and the way the travel industry is responding to this growing trend. The hour long discussion went on to highlight and address issues that concerned women travellers of today including safety and security of women on the go, the growing demand for adventure tourism among women, emergence of new travelling segments, need for medical and travel insurance, and so on. Moderated by Reema Lokesh, editor, Express TravelWorld, the round table discussion witnessed participation from six industry women experts from the travel fraternity in India – Veena Patil, founder and managing director, Veena World; Stuti Das, head – central procurement, Kuoni Travel India; Sheetal Wadhwa Munshaw of Avant Garde; Namrata Dalwani, director, Krisia Holidays; Parul Mehta of Destination Globe; and Anaita Elavia, associate vice president – product development, Vacations Exotica.
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Veena Patil
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The discussion started with Patil sharing the reasons that led to her conceptualising the ‘My Fair Lady’ tours exclusively for women travellers in India. “Ladies who were on tours with their families weren’t able to enjoy since they would be busy managing the family and their requirements. I took the first tour to Kashmir but I was dissatisfied with it since the needs of the women were not coming through because of socio-cultural pressures. Hence, I thought of taking the women abroad so that their needs could be fulfilled,” she highlighted adding that, this thought led her to take a group of women to Thailand where the women were engaged in various fun activities like dancing and singing, which helped them shape their personality and eventually change the family’s outlook towards them. “Now the family understands the importance of the woman going out. The family has seen changes in her thinking level, her overall grooming. Through tourism, somehow we have been able to solve some of these socio-cultural problems,” she quipped.
As to the challenges faced while taking a diverse group of women on a tour, Patil added, “The women travellers are ready to accept the group disciplines. Through our videos and columns we are trying to educate the women before their holidays. We prepare ourselves, anticipate the inhibitions, make sure they do not feel awkward. Hence everyone in these tours are on the same level.”
Emerging trends
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Parul Mehta
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The discussion highlighted interesting trends in the market like the emergence of a niche segment among women travellers. “The mother and child is a growing sector abroad since they want to spend more time together. Hence we can either have an all women’s tour for all the female members in the family or have a woman with her daughter holiday – since these segments can be touched upon and have the potential to grow,” stated Elavia.
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Stuti Das
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Another striking trend that has been gaining a strong foothold in the India market is the growing demand for adventure tourism among women travellers. “One of our clients – a group of 20 women whom we have been serving for the past 12 years – are very adventurous,” revealed Das. Adding to the same was Patil who also spoke on this emerging trend wherein more and more women in India are opting for adventure tourism. “Women have become more adventurous now. Our advertising is also focused on adventure activities – like showing a lady wearing skiing clothes. This is the transformation that is happening and we need to change accordingly. The lady is out of the house and now we need to take the next step. Adventure tourism is the next big thing,” reasoned Patil. However there is a challenge that needs to be overcome. “Ladies want to opt for adventure activities but do not know how to do them. Hence, the next step is to find out new destinations, the changing trends, what to do next and so on,” suggested Patil.
Selling effectively
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Sheetal Wadhwa Munshaw
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Though the segment of women travellers is comparatively smaller in India, they are well travelled, urbanised and demanding. Hence the challenge is to have adequate knowledge about the products in order to sell them better. “Our client base is very niche. They are well travelled, urbanised and demanding, and hence we have to do a lot of research of the product,” opined Mehta. Adding to this thought was Dalwani who stated, “Changing the women’s mindset is very difficult. They are systematic in handling, educated, far more aggressive when it comes to the price, well-researched, tech savvy, and talk amongst themselves and figure out what they want.” However, one of the ways to overcome these challenges would be to focus on more activities that might interest the women travellers. “There is a change in the mindset of women and therefore they are able to pitch their holidays. We have started to think of women as a separate segment and hence we focus on women-centric activities like spa treatments, wine tasting excursions, bachelorette parties,” opined Munshaw.
Safety first
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Namrata Dalwani
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Though times have changed and an increasing number of women are seen travelling either for leisure or on business, the concern that dominates the mind of today’s women travellers is the safety and security issue. Giving an insight into this, Das spoke on the various points that needs to be considered while designing a travel itinerary for a woman. “We need to do adequate research, and do airline bookings based on whether a male is sitting on the adjacent seat of the lady traveller or not and give her a seat accordingly. While for hotel bookings, thought should be given on to the location of the hotel, the room where the lady travellers will be staying, etc. The woman needs to be a smart traveller and that is how we need to design our product, ” mentioned Das. The same was reiterated by Munshaw who spoke on the need for travel agents to take precautions. “As long as you take basic precautions, then it is safe. The staff in hotels and airlines are attuned to the safety and security of women.” Also travel agents need to educate the women travellers especially foreigners visiting India on the safety norms. “This is the only way to travel alone within India. India has great tourism potential but it is being destroyed since the country is not safe for solo women travellers,” added Patil.
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Anaita Elavia
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Despite the precautions being taken by the travel agent, at the end of the day the woman traveller needs to be prudent and alert when it comes to her safety and security, which was reiterated by all the speakers. Also the need for medical and travel insurance was highlighted by all which is part of the travel package. “Medical and travel insurance are important for everybody. Women are taking these insurances and we also insist on the same,” stressed Elavia.
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Future growth
The discussion concluded with a rapid fire round wherein all the speakers shared their views on the future of all women tours in India. “It is a growing market and will stay for a long time. As far as the product is concerned, women tours are highly emotional. However, the all women segment hasn’t been tapped oversees,” pointed out Patil. Stating the same was Munshaw who opined, “Since this segment is going to grow, everyone should tap this segment. Product knowledge needs to be more on the travel agents part to give the woman traveller niche things. We also need to have all women FAMs to show how safe these destinations are for them.” Giving another perspective was Dalwani who spoke on the emerging Gen X market segment who are settled oversees, well-travelled independent travellers and well-educated. “The Gen X is the next big niche market. They are tech savvy but still would want a travel agent for support since Indians by nature are always looking for security,” she added.
