JourneyWoman Global 30th Anniversary Celebration: Celebrate 30 Years of Solo Women’s Travel on October 30

by | Sep 21, 2024

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Featured image: JourneyWoman members at our June 2024 30th anniversary celebration at the Bata Shoe Museum / Photo by Camilla Pucholt 

Looking to the next 30 years in women’s travel

JourneyWoman’s 30th anniversary celebration on October 30 marks a special moment  — not only is this an opportunity to recognize the vision of JourneyWoman founder Evelyn Hannon,  it’s an opportunity to acknowledge the women who are helping shape a new way to travel.  Come meet inspiring women just like you, including “The New Tourist” author Paige McClanahan and celebrate our 2024 JourneyWoman Award recipients, who are helping make the world safer and more inclusive.  You’ll also get a first peek at our 30th anniversary book and meet some of the women profiled in it. 

We’re hosting our event on Thursday, October 30, at 2 pm – 3 pm ET so that women around the world can join us and make this a truly global celebration. Check your local time zones here. 

What’s happening at our virtual event

How is tourism shaping the world?  

We’re thrilled to welcome guest speaker Paige McClanahan, Author, “The New Tourist”. Based in France, Paige will share her take on how the right kind of tourism can be a powerful force for good, and our role as women in leading the way. Please support Paige by purchasing her book here!

“Many travel books tell you where to go. This one tells you how to go. Deeply researched and engagingly written, ‘The New Tourist’ will change the way you think about travel.” — Eric Weiner, The New York Times Bestselling author of The Geography of Bliss 

A regular contributor to The New York Times, Paige has reported from more than a dozen countries, writing for publications like The Guardian, the BBC, and The Washington Post, among many others. Her reporting has covered multilateral trade negotiations, humanitarian crises, economic development, and, for the past five years, the tourism industry. Her travel journalism has been recognized by The Society of American Travel Writers and the North American Travel Journalists Association. A graduate of Williams College and Duke University, she has lived in five countries since she left the United States in 2008.

JourneyWoman Book preview

Join us for an insider’s view of the first volume of our 30th anniversary book, featuring diverse and inspiring women over 50.  In addition to our featured profiles, hundreds of women from the JourneyWoman community participated by sharing their wisdom and advice on solo travel.  With a strong call to action, this book features women you know and some you may not  — but all agree it’s never too late to follow your dreams.

On average, the majority of those featured have more than 30 years of travel experience, with 45% of those saying the have more than 50 years of travel experience. Sixty percent have been to more than 30 countries, and 22% have been to more than 70 countries.  More than 85% have a bachelors degree or higher, and represent women from the US, Canada, the UK, Europe, Africa, New Zealand, Australia and other countries.

The book will be available for sale shortly, with proceeds going to three organizations that focus on gender equity, causes selected by JourneyWoman readers. These include: Ally Foundation, a Vancouver-based anti-human trafficking non-profit, The Period Purse, a non-profit in Toronto that strives to achieve menstrual equity and reduce period poverty, and wmnsWork, a tourism business accelerator for women and non-binary entrepreneurs.

More details on the book will be announced prior to the event.

Celebrate the recipients of the 2024 JourneyWoman Awards

Together, we’ll celebrate the wisdom and influence of women over 50 in travel. Our first award winner, Joy Fox, 89, was selected by JourneyWoman CEO Carolyn Ray in March 2024 for the inaugural JourneyWoman Evelyn Hannon Solo Travel Award, named after JourneyWoman founder Evelyn Hannon.  

JourneyWoman readers nominated women for the three remaining categories, which were shortlisted by our Women’s Advisory Council and expert judges to develop a list of finalists. More than 700 women voted for the finalists, with the final decision made by our JourneyWoman Women’s Advisory Council. Our JourneyWoman Award recipients are joining us from Europe, the UK, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Canada and the US. 

JourneyWoman Solo Travel Wisdom Award, celebrating a solo traveller over 50 
Presented by Joy Fox, 2024 JourneyWoman Evelyn Hannon Solo Travel Award and Dr. Mary Clark

Finalists:

The JourneyWoman Purpose-Driven Entrepreneur Award, celebrating a women-owned tourism business 
Presented by Cathy Gotfried, Founder, Babes in Bali and Libby Wildman

Finalists:

JourneyWoman Innovation in Hospitality Award, recognizing a women-owned, safe place to stay
Presented by Tracey Breeden and Marillee Carroll

Finalists:

About JourneyWoman 

Founded in 1994, JourneyWoman™ is the world’s first solo female travel resource and one of the most trusted women’s travel brands in the world. JourneyWoman hosts the world’s largest Women’s Travel Directory as a free service to women, providing hundreds of curated and vetted women-friendly tours, retreats, small ships and safe places to stay while supporting small tourism businesses around the world. To elevate women’s voices, the award-winning Soul of Travel Podcast joined JourneyWoman in 2023. JourneyWoman also launched the travel industry’s first Women’s Speaker’s Bureau to share wisdom from women over 50 and accelerate diversity and the JourneyWoman Awards for Women Over 50. To learn more, visit FacebookInstagram, or LinkedIn. JourneyWoman is a registered trademark of Journeywoman Enterprises Inc. 

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