ABSTRACT
Traveling alone can be a pleasant and often life-changing experience for women. As Freya Stark, a British female explorer and travel writer during the 1930s, commented, “to awaken alone in a strange town is one of the pleasantest sensations in the world” (Lewis, 2014, p. 40). While Stark’s observation certainly still applies today, compared to women traveling in Stark’s time, contemporary female travelers have gained more freedom in mobility and economic independence. The emerging solo female travel market is essentially a manifestation of the advancement of gender equality in recent decades (Bond, 1997; Jordan & Gibson, 2005; Wilson & Little, 2008). This is especially the case in the West where 72% of American women are interested in solo holidays (Kim, 2014). Although tourism has arisen much later in Asia, a similar trend is observed in the region. The growth of tourism is further spurred by the Chinese market since China opened its door to the world and other emerging developing nations (Winter et al., 2009).
