Female solo travels to south Asian destinations and sustaining loneliness

Abstract

While there has been an increase in the number of tourists travelling solo, there is a steady growth in females travelling alone as tourists around the globe. This phenomenon has led to a growing scholarly interest, yet solo female travel as a research topic is relatively under-researched. Only limited knowledge exists about the psychological issues of female solo travel, such as loneliness. There is a gap in our understanding of interpreting solo travel by females, depending on their country of origin and the type of destinations they have travelled solo. This study examined these aspects by exploring female solo travelling in South Asian destinations with European and Asian participants. The results revealed that the meaning of solo travelling is associated with four themes: freedom pursuit, being with the self, self-enhancement, and connectedness with people. It also disclosed that solo female travellers have different perceptions about ‘loneliness,’ and everyone does not see loneliness as a negative outcome. The results further indicate that the perception of solo travel and loneliness and how to cope with lonely times are likely to be subjective to the type of destinations where solo travelling takes place and the country of origin of the travellers.