Courtesy Gusty Women Travel
Jill Rohrbach, a travel writer for the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism, recently joined five other women, including her boss, on a women-only trip to the Ozarks organized by a resort-owner friend.
“Our activities were as diverse as our group but melded us together as if we had known each other for years, even though half of us had just met,” Rohrbach wrote in a feature article distributed by her department in early August. “We wined and dined, enjoyed spa treatments, fished for trout and walleye, cruised like stars on a houseboat and even painted gourds.”
Rohrbach wrote that on the final night of the trip, as the group ate barbecue at their lodge and downloaded photos of the trip on their computers, “we talked, laughed and bonded, which to me is what a girlfriend getaway is really all about.”
Rohrbach’s experience encapsulated many of the things that have made women-only trips a popular, growing and lucrative segment of the travel market: the opportunity to meet new friends and try new experiences in a relaxed, pressure-free, nonjudgmental atmosphere away from daily responsibilities.
“Women by their nature like to share experiences, like to talk and interact,” said April Merenda, president and co-founder of Gutsy Women Travel, a Glendale, Calif., women-only travel company. “From what I can see and [from] my female viewpoint, we don’t look on it as a luxury but a necessity and a sense of empowerment. Women need to get away, whether from their jobs or stress in their lives, and do something for themselves.”
“I always meet new friends and have so much fun,” said Marybeth Bond, a leading expert on women’s travel who has led several all-women trips from Santa Fe, N.M., to Charleston, S.C., and to several foreign countries. “It is so relaxed. We laugh a lot. I like history, culture, eating well and shopping; those are all things we do.”
“On an all-women’s trip, women tell us that they can be totally and unequivocally themselves,” said Susan Eckert, founder of Adventure Women in Bozeman, Mont. “Women who come with me say it is like a great big pajama party nonstop. Women say they have never laughed so hard in years.”
Merenda said that on every tour she includes come component of culture, gourmet dining, downtime and the ability to interact on the trip with other like-minded women. “The driving force behind Gutsy Women is not the destination but the women who make up the trip,” she said.
Although Eckert started her company 29 years ago, there has been a rapid increase of interest in women-only tours in recent years. “It wasn’t a trend then. Now, everybody’s doing it,” she said, “Little companies are sprouting up all the time.”
Bond, author of the National Geographic best-selling “Girlfriend Getaways Guidebooks,” estimated that women-only travel companies have increased by more than 200 percent in the past decade.
“Women — young, old, single, married, widowed and gutsy — are fueling an explosive growth in the travel industry,” she said. “The girlfriend getaway market represents a significant amount of money.”
She cited a 2007 AAA Girlfriend Travel Research Project that found that 24 percent of American women had taken a girlfriend getaway in the previous three years, accounting for 4 percent of all U.S. travel spending, nearly $200 million.
A survey released earlier this year by the American Resort Development Association reported that 38 percent of women had taken a girlfriend getaway with female family and friends, and 63 percent plan to take one in the next two years.
“The phenomenon of women traveling together on vacation has exploded because there are more career women with expendable income,” the association said in releasing the survey. “They are busy, stressed out and tired from the multiple roles they perform at work and at home, and a girlfriend getaway gives them the chance to recharge their batteries.”
Merenda said that although her company is expanding into a younger professional market of high-powered businesswomen, entrepreneurs and teachers who don’t have the time to plan trips, other factors are also spurring the growth of women-only travel.
“More and more women are being exposed to lifestyle changes, such as widow, divorce, empty nester, retirement, career changes, health changes, relocation,” she said.
Bond said another factor in the growth is the support women have for such travel from men, particularly their husbands.
“The difference from 20 years ago and today is they are traveling with other women with the full support of men,” she said. “A large percentage are married, and their husbands just don’t want to travel as much as they do or not to the same destination or do the same things. And they are happy you are going with a group [with whom] it’s safe.”
Bond said men also don’t feel threatened, because their wives are traveling with other women.
Eckert noted that when she started her company, friends would ask women who traveled with her what was wrong with their marriages. “Today, if you are not taking a trip by yourself or with friends, mothers or daughters, they ask what is wrong with your marriage,” she said.
Although not on the same scale as women-only trips, men are also getting into the gender-specific act, spurring the creation of a new word — “mancation” — a term for men taking trips with other men.
A 2008 study by Synovate research company found that 42 percent of men had taken a mancation, and 42 percent of men that had not taken a mancation would consider it.
TripAdvisor.com saw a 7 percent increase in trip reviews by men traveling with friends for the first five months of this year compared with the same period in 2009. Reviews by men traveling with a spouse or partner were down 3 percent.
“I think it’s growing, but it’s hard to gauge,” said James Hills, who runs the website www.mantripping.com, which offers tips on destinations and activities for men-only travel. “I am getting an increased amount of interest in my site.”
The three main reasons men in the Synovate survey wanted to get away were bonding with the guys, having fun and seeing friends they rarely see.
“Simply put, a mancation is any excuse to get away from the real world, hang out with other men who enjoy the same things you do and have fun, without having to worry about your wife, girlfriends or other female companions,” said Hills.
The types of men-only trips are also expanding beyond the traditional golfing or hunting excursions. “A golf trip might be the archetypical guy getaway, but a lot of guys don’t play golf,” said Hills. “I personally am not into bird watching, but I have discovered a lot of guys who like it.
“There are eco-tours, things guys wouldn’t think about off the cuff, but a group of guys could have a blast exploring the rain forest or Mayan ruins. I like to try to include that kind of stuff [on his website].”
Hills said men also can add variety to regular trips. “Tupelo (Mississippi, the birthplace of Elvis Presley) is doing a golf and Elvis theme event. How cool is that? If you are into rock or Elvis, go to Tupelo. Little things like that are fun.”
Hills lists 10 types of mancations on his site, from extreme sports and adventure trips to cruises, educational tours, giving-back trips and even “geek” trips.
“Geek mancations are an underrated and underpromoted aspect of men’s travel, but as a card-carrying geek I think it is important to include things like going to E3 to hang out and ‘research’ the latest and greatest new video games, to Gen Con for 24-hour marathons of ‘Dungeons and Dragons’ and other RPGs, Comic-Con to see the latest and greatest new graphic novels,” writes Hills, who also runs an Internet marketing company.
Men can even like pampering at a spa. “I like a spa,” Hills said. “Getting facials and massages can be a fun thing. At Lake Geneva, they have a spa that is very man-friendly.”
The Abbey, a Lake Geneva, Wis., resort, was recently renovated to include a private room with a big-screen television, poker tables and a cigar-smoking area.
However, Hills said the concept of men-only travel is still developing.
“Outdoorsy mancations such as hunting, fishing, golfing and hiking are perhaps the most popular type of men’s travel, but most guys probably don’t even consider it a mancation,” he said. “It is just having a blast with buddies from college, guys from work or just spending some quality time as father and son.”
More Buyer’s Guide articles:
The new norm is constant change
Flexible group tours: You’re on your own
Gender-based tours: It’s understood
Green travel: Sustainable momentum
Group exclusives: Preferred customers
Researching travel: Do your homework
