Featured image: Women-only group travel is on the rise, like this tour to Egypt with Women Travel Abroad | Photo provided by Women Travel Abroad

Once under the radar, women-only travel is flourishing, offering women more options than ever before

by Mia Taylor

In case you haven’t noticed, women-only group travel is truly having a moment. Or perhaps a more accurate assessment is that a travel niche created by women, for women (that spent years flying largely under the radar) is finally coming into its own and flourishing.

A brief look at the statistics makes this exciting reality abundantly clear. For instance, the Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA) reported earlier this year that companies dedicated to exclusively serving female travellers have increased by a staggering 230 per cent in recent years.

Meanwhile, existing travel companies (in other words, companies that were not created simply to offer women-only tours) are doing their best to tap into this burgeoning niche.

Based on data from JourneyWoman’s 2022 study,“The Influence and Affluence of Women Over 50 in Travel”, which showed that 65% of solo women ​look for tour companies that offer women-only tours or solo trips for women, U.S.-based Insight Vacations created women-only trips to 11 destinations in 2025.

In addition, UK-based Solos Holidays recently announced the first women-only trips in its 40-year history. The company revealed in July that it will soon begin taking women-only groups to Greece, India and Morocco.

“We chose those destinations because they’re popular with our solo women, but also because it’s an opportunity to see them in a different way than travelling in a mixed group. With the space and mindset,” says Donna Jeavons, Strategic Marketing Director, Solos Holidays.

At the same time, global travel giant Intrepid Travel reported a 59 percent increase between 2024 and 2025 in bookings for its Women’s Expeditions.

The reasons for the explosion in the women-only group travel space are myriad.

• Women are living longer, healthier and more active lives
• Women are the primary decision makers when it comes to travel
• Women have increasing financial independence
• There’s a unique sense of comfort that comes with travelling with other women (along with safety and security)

These reasons, however, merely scratch the surface. Some of the most intriguing and compelling explanations for the growth of the women-only group travel segment come from those driving the trend: The founders of women-only tour companies.

Here’s what they had to say about the massive boom in women-only group travel, along with what the future may hold.

Get stories just like this one delivered straight to your inbox. Join our mailing list here.

Women-only group travel: decades in the making

Some of the most well-known and highly respected women-only group travel companies have been working in this niche for decades, long before the media started paying attention and long before women-only group travel became the latest industry buzzword.

One of the earliest trailblazers in the space, for instance, Wild Women Expeditions, a Canadian company that runs trips guided by women, for women, was established in 1991, more than three decades ago.

“It was really a very, very trailblazing time back in 1991 when we started,” recalls owner Jennifer Haddow. “Our creation didn’t come from an agenda. There was a lot of innocence about it. There wasn’t a grand scheme. It was ‘Hey, this is going to be so fun if the girls get together and we go and do this kayaking trip and this canoe expedition.’ It was seen as very empowering and there was a social motivation. It wasn’t really even envisioned as a travel industry business at the time.”

With that said, Haddow is quick to add that while there wasn’t a specific intention to create a travel business, there certainly was pent-up demand for exactly that type of offering. “The best things blossom when there is a need and there was a need among women who wanted a safe, empowering, social space of women-only experiences. And there was nothing, I mean nothing, like that happening back in the day.”

And thus, a new travel niche was born.

Finding the ‘middle spot’ – more flexible, women-focused itineraries

In subsequent years, more small, women-led companies followed in the footsteps of Wild Women Expeditions. One of them is Women Travel Abroad, a business founded in 2014 by Karamel McCoy, a military spouse who continually found herself looking for other solo women to travel with. Unable to find the travel partners she sought, McCoy took part in trips offered by large tour companies.

“She did some of those other big, group tours and hated it,” explains WTA CEO Katherine Butler-Dines, who purchased Women Travel Abroad from McCoy about a year ago. “She hated it as a middle-aged, solo woman who found herself often travelling with older couples.”

Back in 2014, it seems there weren’t many companies addressing what Butler-Dines calls that “middle spot”— meaning companies offering small group, women-only trips and itineraries that were not overly regimented. In other words, the type of travel McCoy was looking for. McCoy’s response? To create a company of her own.

“She started the business out of her own desire,” continues Butler-Dines. “And then she went and told people in her community, ‘I’m going to plan a trip to the Netherlands, who wants to come with me?’ She got four or five women, most of whom were friends of friends, to go with her on that first trip. And she realized there was a lot of demand for those types of trips and continued to scale the business.”

A few years later, companies like NextTribe and Sisterhood Travels, established in 2017 and 2018 respectively, joined the blossoming travel niche.

The exact circumstances that drove the creation of each company may vary somewhat, but there’s inevitably a common thread: Each founder set out to provide the type of travel offerings she wanted for herself but was unable to find.

Why are women-only trips gaining popularity now?

Given that women-only travel companies have been around for literally decades, it begs the question: Why now? Why is this travel segment suddenly booming beyond all previous measures?

Butler-Dines suggests timing and money may have a lot to do with the current boom.

“There’s a lot of pent-up demand post-Covid,” she explains. “Women realized ‘I’ve been working my whole life to be able to say that when I retire I’m going to take these trips’ and they realized that the world could shut down at any moment and they wouldn’t get that opportunity. So, they said, ‘Let me take advantage of the place I’m at in my life right now and take those trips,’ combined with the fact that women are the primary ones making travel decisions.”

And then Butler-Dines offers an even deeper reason why this travel segment is booming right now: There’s a great deal of loneliness in the world. Including for women who feel disconnected from friends, family and a larger sense of community.

Women-only group travel helps to fill this void by offering a way to make meaningful and often lasting connections.

“It’s a really great way to build and find that community. You spend a week getting to know these people. You may not become best friends in a week, but it is people you develop a relationship with,” continues Butler-Dines. “They’re people you can plan more trips with. They’re people you stay in touch with. That, to me, is the real power of women-only travel trips.”

Jeannie Ralston, founder of NextTribe, a company that started as a digital travel magazine for women over 45 before pivoting into offering women-only group travel, suggests there’s been an important shift taking place in recent years with regard to the way women of a certain age view their lives. And perhaps even in the way society views those same women.

“Back in the day, if someone said that they were 60, we might have thought ‘Get her a cane or a walker,'” Ralston says, only half joking. “But now, women are having a great time when we have the time and the resources to devote to our own growth. We’ve raised kids, nurtured a career and maybe taken care of aging parents. And now we’re having this really special time when we want to take care of our own needs and our own passions. And we’re still active enough and healthy enough to do so.”

“I think, in my mind, that’s where it all comes from. I’ve heard from a lot of women that this is finally their time,” Ralston adds.

Not only do many of the women who are participating in women-only group travel feel like ‘it’s their time,’ but many are more comfortable in their own skin than ever. And travel offers a unique opportunity to step into that power.

“Women are learning, and this is coming from every which way, from podcasts and celebrities, that it’s okay to be exactly who you are right this minute. No apologies. Be your real self,” says Stacey Ray, owner of Sisterhood Travels.

On top of all of these reasons, there’s also a natural maturation of the market taking place. Indeed, in North America, women have grown to represent an incredibly powerful travel demographic. JourneyWoman’s study “Invisible No More: The Ageless Adventuress” revealed that women, particularly those who are 50-plus, are now fueling a billion-dollar travel boom.

Among those globetrotting women are many who realize the value of women-only group travel.

“A lot of things can be a slow burn and then the wildfire just kind of lights,” says Wild Women’s Haddow. “I feel like that’s the stage we are in right now…Women are hearing the stories, and they’re realizing that this is an option. And I think it’s getting a lot of publicity, and it has been for a number of years now. And so now, it’s really ripe and there’s no going back to women feeling there’s not an option for them to have this space.”

What makes women-only trips different from co-ed trips?

As this once niche market booms, it’s natural to wonder what, if anything, makes this style of travel uniquely different from co-ed trips. In the same way that many of these companies came into being for similar reasons and with similar goals, they also tend to have a common ethos in terms of how their trips differ from co-ed travel.

Some of the features that are common among trips offered by women-only group travel companies include:

• Small group sizes, in some cases no larger than 6 to 10 women
  Focus on culturally immersive activities and experiences
• Connection with local women in the destinations being visited
• Prioritized use of female tour guides
• Support for women-owned businesses, as much as possible, throughout the journey

“We try to work with women-owned companies throughout our trips, which includes going to women-owned restaurants and businesses, whenever possible, and having women guides,” explains Ralston, underscoring one of the key factors that distinguishes NextTribe journeys.

And that’s not all. Ralston says her trips are not designed to showcase every popular tourist stop—be it a temple, a monument or a museum —that a destination has to offer. Rather, she wants women on her trips to connect deeply with locals.

“Our big goal is to get into someone’s life, to meet a local woman who’s doing something interesting. Maybe visit her in her studio or in her home. I always want to get us through the front door and have experiences that connect us to the culture in a different way,” she explains.

Haddow echoes this sentiment. But she does so by sharing an anecdote from a Wild Women Expedition’s journey in Egypt, involving an especially memorable moment at a mango farm along the Nile River.

“We met this woman who invited us in and we all sat there on her dirt floor and drank hibiscus tea together. And she invited her mother and her sister and her daughters. And we had this women’s community,” says Haddow. “That kind of experience with women harkens back to something ancient and primal. There’s something sacred about groups of women going on a quest together. We have these experiences on trips that are so different then if it was a co-ed group or women just joining a mixed group. We’re doing something so different.”

Women-only groups provide a sense of comfort and safety

Women-only group travel trips are different in other ways as well. Less tangible ways.

That includes the sense of comfort and security women feel when travelling with a group of women. Often, that also encompasses a lack of judgment. And an unspoken understanding.

“There’s just a kind of beauty at this age I’ve found. We’ve all been through a lot of stuff. And the women on these trips, by and large, they understand that. And they embrace that,” says Ralston. “As women at this age, we’ve been through a lot. And it’s great to see women coming together and supporting each other. And creating a real community.”

Sisterhood Travels, the company founded by Ray, seeks to provide small group travel (trips of no more than 16 to 24 people) in combination with a uniquely supportive community for the women who join the trips. That means no drama on the trips and no mean girl syndrome allowed.

“We truly have created an environment where people feel safe and secure,” Ray explains.

Layered on top of all of that, Sisterhood itineraries are also infused with experiences that allow women to support other women, similar to its peers in this travel segment. “I believe we should always leave more than we take,” she says. “I don’t just mean that financially. I mean that in spirit, too.”

“Everything we do is to create and curate one-of-a-kind experiences that you’re not going to find with other companies,” Ray adds.

What does the future hold for women-only group travel?

Each of the women interviewed for this story offered intriguing, aspirational goals for the future of the women-only group travel space. The paths for growth of this segment and its offerings, along with its support of women around the globe, have the potential to take many forms.

That might include a broader mix of trip themes or focuses to encompass the vast diversity of women from all walks of life and their interests.

“Women-only travel can be as specific as you want to be,” says Butler-Dines. “We do wellness-specific trips that are focused on yoga. We offer culinary-specific trips. I like to think about how we could continue to broaden the niches we serve. Because the more unique your itinerary or the deeper you can go into a destination, the more valuable the trip is from a traveller’s perspective.”

Ralston, meanwhile, says the next chapter for the movement might include even more active trips that test physical abilities. “I really believe most of us are stronger and can do more than we even know,” she says. To that end, Ralston is currently scouting out the details of a surfing-themed trip in Costa Rica.

Ray and Haddow posed even deeper questions, even challenges, with regard to the future of the women-only group travel segment. Ray, for instance, would like to see the big tour operators who have recently expanded into women-only group travel consider eliminating such offerings.

“I would like to stop seeing suppliers, the big companies that have never specialized in it before, step out of trying to be in this niche. They’re trying to capitalize on what so many of us are doing organically. And it doesn’t have the same feel, because they don’t have the special sauce,” says Ray.

As for Haddow, owner of a company that’s arguably been leading the charge for women-only group travel the longest, she’s pushing for a future where even more women globally benefit from the growth of this movement. That includes with regard to ownership of travel industry-related companies and the resulting economic benefits that would accompany such a development.

“I wish there were more women-owned travel companies,” concludes Haddow. “I hope the conversation expands to include not just how we can make money from women, but how we can get money into the hands of women and give them real agency and power.”

More on Group Travel