Friends looking at a smartphone

What women travellers want in 2021

 | Save
To celebrate International Women’s Day, we dive into Booking.com data to uncover what women travellers are looking for in a post-pandemic travel experience

With vaccines slowly rolling out and countries beginning to open their borders bit by bit to international flights, women across the globe are eager to embrace travel.

Over half of women (55%) we surveyed globally say travel restrictions have heightened their desire to see more of the world. And a significant number of them – 65% – have pledged not to take travel for granted again.

As well as being healthy indicators of pent-up pandemic demand, these statistics are an indication that women may do things a little differently in 2021. Following International Women’s Day, we dig into survey statistics to see how you might attract women travellers as the world begins to travel again.

Point me to the nearest beach

Early in the pandemic, we saw a shift in booker search patterns away from city destinations and towards rural experiences in nature – to beaches and mountains, for example. To cater to that trend, we created an intent-based discovery tool. When it knows a booker is interested in beach holidays, for instance, it will match that intent by recommending properties located near the closest beaches, even if those beaches are many kilometres away.

This is a new way for partners who aren’t located in big cities to be found and matched with bookers, and it doesn’t require travellers to know specifically where they want to go before they search. If your property is located near a beach, this new functionality could be beneficial for you.

Marketing to the trend: With 42% of global women travellers saying they plan to take a beach break in the next year, this is a large group to focus on. If you want to target bookers by country, when it’s safe to do so, the women most keen on booking a beach trip were those in Croatia (59%), Russia (59%), Brazil (54%) and Argentina (52%).

A thirst for adventure

It’s no stretch to say that being cooped up for a year at home has made people eager to travel – both men and women. Some are ready for a real adventure.

When we asked, one in eight (15%) women globally indicated that they plan to take an adventure trip in the coming year. The most adventurous responders by far were German women, with 69% of them planning an adventure trip, followed by women in India (27%), Colombia (26%) and Mexico (23%).

Marketing to the trend: What kind of adventure can your guests access from your property? If you haven’t already created partnerships with local experience providers, founding those partnerships right now could be a great way to satisfy adventurous spirits. 

Maximum relaxation

While adventure beckons for some women, others just want to take it easy. Over half (53%) of women surveyed chose relaxation as the goal of their next trip. This is especially the case across Asian countries, with women from Japan (70%), Korea (67%), Hong Kong (66%) and Singapore (64%) indicating relaxation is their point of focus.

Marketing to the trend: Some partners provide guests with a printed list of the most popular activities in their area upon arrival. Consider creating a ‘maximum relaxation’ list that shows guests how to do very little extremely well. If you want to promote relaxation at your property, consider ambient ways to add music, scents and even colour to the guest experience and create an exceptionally relaxed atmosphere.

Keeping it simple

Committed travellers who have been deprived of the excitement of visiting far-flung international destinations may want to ease back into travel by starting simple. Almost three quarters (72%) of women surveyed said they want to appreciate more simple experiences once it’s safe to travel again. Leading the way towards simplicity are women from Thailand (87%), Colombia (84%), Mexico (82%) and Spain (79%).

Marketing to the trend: This trend dovetails nicely with both the focus on relaxing experiences and the desire to drift away (at least temporarily) from big cities and large crowds. As a local in your area, you may have your own list of natural attractions and simple activities that have kept you sane in the last year and that don’t require a lot of planning or equipment. This could be a great list for you to share with your guests.

Research commissioned by Booking.com and conducted among a sample of adults who have travelled for business or leisure in the past 12 months, and must be planning to travel in the next 12 months (if/once travel restrictions are lifted). In total 20,934 respondents across 28 countries and territories were polled. Respondents completed an online survey in July 2020

 

What do you think of this page?

Takeaway
  • With 42% of women planning a beach vacation, the intent-based discovery tool we developed should get a lot of usage
  • One in eight women want adventure in their next trip, making local experience providers a good partner for you in 2021
  • Over half of women will focus on relaxation as their goal, so having a list of extremely relaxing local options may come in handy
  • Simplicity is a strong trend for women after being unable to travel, which dovetails with other findings in the survey