Last updated on April 24th, 2025
Starting a conversation about women 50+ in travel
by Carolyn Ray
Last year, one of our writers, Kathy Buckworth, penned a piece called “Hello, I’m Right Here! Why Are Older Women Treated Like We’re Invisible?” Within hours, it became one of the most popular articles on our website, highlighting a need that many of us feel as we age. While Kathy’s article informed the title of our research, the need was validated through our last study in 2022, where 70 percent of women said they felt undervalued by the travel industry.
On March 18, we released our latest study on women 50+ travel, called “Invisible No More: The Ageless Adventuress”, conducted in partnership with Collette Travel, Intrepid Travel and Aurora Expeditions. “Invisible No More: The Ageless Adventuress” is the most in-depth study of its kind. Over 1,630 women completed our online survey in December 2024, sharing their travel preferences, spending, preferred destinations, purchasing habits and more. In addition, we analyzed over 50 industry reports to establish the market opportunity for the female 50+ travel market, including Gen X, Baby Boomers and the Silent Generation, up to age 100. Our research shows that the Women 50+ travel market will more than double from US$245 billion in 2025 to US$519 billion by 2035 in the US and Canada.
Key findings: women 50+ are powerful
- 98% of respondents said they are the decision maker in their household
- In North America, the women 50+ travel market will more than double from USD$245 billion in 2025 to USD$519 billion by 2035
- Travel spending by Women 50+ is almost equal to the entire Millennial marketplace
- 24% of women 50+ travellers are married; the remainder are widowed, divorced, separated, never married, etc.
- Women 65-74 spend the most on travel; overall, spending increases as women get older
- 78% say that the single supplement is a barrier to solo travel (Please note: we conducted a focus group with JourneyWoman readers on this topic on March 10 and are publishing additional research to advocate for change in May 2025)
- 71% of women 50+ rely on less than 10 sources of information to make a decision
- Sources that inspire travel are (in order): Recommendations from friends and relatives, Travel company websites and online websites for women by women. Travel media and mainstream media ranked lower.
- Most women prefer to book their own travel independently, prefer less-travelled destinations and slower, longer trips
- 14% use a travel advisor, 45% do not; 41% do sometimes
Our launch event with Intrepid Travel on March 18, 2025
On March 18, alongside study partner Intrepid Travel, we released the results of the study to media, industry partners and tourism boards.
Our panel included Hala Benkhaldoun, who leads Intrepid’s Women’s Expeditions in Morocco, and Tara McCallum, who leads marketing at Intrepid, along with our 2025 JourneyWoman Award Recipient Joyce Perrin, 88, who has travelled solo to more than 150 countries, starting in her 50s. Joyce was the absolute star of the show. Her stories and wisdom captivated the audience and brought all of our data to life before our eyes. She truly is the ‘ageless adventuress’ that we must embrace, as wisdom keepers, teachers and sources of inspiration.
You can also download a complimentary version of the “Invisible No More” report using the buttons below. The more you know, the more you can advocate for women. Please share in your networks!
Media headlines
- “Undervalued but Unstoppable: Why women over 50 are travel’s most powerful consumers”, Travel Industry Today
- “Invisible No More” Women 50+ are Transforming Travel”, Open Jaw
- Women 50+ are the fastest growing demographic in travel, say Intrepid and JourneyWoman, Travel Weekly
- “Invisible no more: Intrepid & JourneyWoman unpack how women 50+ are transforming travel”, Pax News
- “New report finds women over 50 will drive $746 billion in travel spending by 2035”, Travel Courier
- “We are not invisible: Why Women 50+ Are Embracing Solo Travel Like Never Before” | GET LOST, Breakfast Television (Toronto)
What travel industry leaders are saying about the report
We invited some of the travel industry leaders who participated in the research to share their thoughts on what this means for travel. Here’s what they said.
Burce Poon Tip, Founder, G Adventures
“This group of women is a force”
“This group of women 50+ – in North America and elsewhere – are becoming a force of power in the travel industry, a) because of the size of the demographic, b) because of the profile of the demographic, and c) because there is an appetite for a different kind of travel experience.”
Stacey Ray, CEO, Sisterhood Travels
“The call to action is clear: the travel industry must do better”
“My top takeaway from the Invisible No More research is that this informative, content-rich report not only validates the work Sisterhood Travels has been doing all along but also sheds light on what truly matters to solo women travelers. It’s empowering to see their voices and priorities clearly articulated—everything from safety and connection to authenticity and respect. It’s a powerful reminder that our demographic knows exactly what they want—and they deserve to be seen and heard.
It’s time to stop marginalizing women over 50 and start seeing them as the vibrant, curious, and powerful travelers they are, especially since they have real buying power. That means inclusive marketing, thoughtful trip design, and pricing that doesn’t penalize independence. If we want to meet the needs of this incredible demographic, the industry needs to listen—really listen—and then take meaningful action.”
Jake Haupert, CEO, The Transformational Travel Council (TTC)
The Transformational Travel Council is an experience design and regenerative development school, consultancy, and community catalyzing travel to improve lives, businesses, and communities.
“…women over 50 are the sages”
“This data reflecting that 34% of women over 50 feel ignored by the travel industry hit me hard. That being said, as more and more brands jump into the emerging transformation economy and adopt principles and practices rooted in a more relational approach to the market, the market will undoubtedly get the attention it deserves. I think more forward-looking travel brands will uncover that women over 50 are the sages that this new emerging economy is best suited for but also see authentic and enduring engagement, which will prove quite valuable from an economic perspective as customer-lifetime-value skyrockets.
The report acknowledges that women over 50 aren’t easily influenced by the mainstream and seek fewer more trustworthy travel recommendations. If helping your travelers become better versions of themselves through travel, and I’d argue the entire industry should be, then the industry will inevitably wake up and become more attuned to this market.”
Roni Weiss, CEO, Travel Unity
Travel Unity’s mission is to make the world of travel welcoming to people of all backgrounds and identities.
“there is a lot to be done…”
“Spending by women 50+ is almost equal to total Millennial marketplace” is eye-catching. Any time you can make the economic case, you’re appealing to a broader array of folks. $200+ billion in the US is a big number. “70% of women over 50 felt ignored by the travel industry” means there is a lot to be done and that the parts of the industry who are proactive will get that money.”
Gina Cambridge, CEO, Wanderlust Solo Women Tours
“fairer pricing for solo travelers needs to be accounted for”
“I felt overall the statistics showed that no matter what field the higher percentage represented by the 50+ female traveler was overwhelming and can’t be ignored or be “invisible” anymore. That women not only make up at least half of the total tourism market, including the decision-making but also are a huge part of those also working within the tourism industry itself. So how can that not be taken notice of?
I loved this report as it backed up my own beliefs around conscious, sustainable, and slow travel being the way forward, plus the fact women travelers are making conscious decisions to choose travel options that embrace this ethos and in return are having more deep and impactful travel experiences.”
More on Women 50+ in Travel
Carolyn Ray
In 2023, Carolyn was named one of the most influential women in travel by TravelPulse for her work advocating for women over 50 in travel. She has been featured in the New York Times, Toronto Star and Conde Nast as a solo travel expert, and speaks at women's travel conferences around the world. She leads JourneyWoman's team of writers and chairs the JourneyWoman Women's Advisory Council, JourneyWoman Awards for Women 50+ and the Women's Speaker's Bureau. She is the chair of the Canadian chapter of the Society of American Travel Writers (SATW), board member for the Cultural Heritage Economic Alliance (CHEA) in support of Black and Brown businesses, a member of Women's Travel Leaders and a Herald for the Transformational Travel Council (TTC). Sometimes she sleeps. A bit.
I wish I had contributed my 2 cents to your article, all in agreement with your thesis. I am an 83-year-old woman, and I continue to marvel at my younger friends who tell me they’re afraid or too old to travel. I always tell them I was born in the back seat of our family car and will continue to travel till I die. I am off to Thailand next week to SCUBA dive with my grandson.