A rising Trend in Tourism: Solo Women Travelers (The Case of Turkey)

This research deals with solo travelling in case of women from Turkey in the intersection of tourism geography, cultural geography and feminist geography. It aims to understand their risk perceptions, destination choices and level of satisfaction related to solo travelling. Additionally, the research aims to reveal the social reactions that they get from their families, friends and local people of the destinations, based on their gender and travelling alone. The research is based on the qualitative analysis of 15 in-depth interviews conducted with solo women travellers. The participants were selected by purposive and snowball sampling methods. The result of analysis indicated that security is the most important factor in destination choice. Gender-based risks are the main determining factor on how women travellers perceive and decide solo travelling. Participants generally reported that they are highly satisfied with their solo travel experiences and have strong intention to continue their travels. The level of satisfaction is strongly related with the motives such as learning and experience, meeting new people and cultures, expansion of vision, self-confidence and empowerment