The exploration of Iranian solo female travellers' experiences

Abstract

For various reasons, some women experience solo travel in different parts of the world. However, as with many leisure activities, access to travel and tourism does not have the same distribution between different social groups, including other classes and genders (men and women). While there is a growing body of research on solo female travellers, few studies have included women from Middle Eastern or Muslimmajority countries. Drawing upon a series of in-depth interviews, this paper examines the travel experiences of Iranian solo female travellers, which have been mainly overlooked in prior studies on the topic. The study's findings indicate that solo travel motivations can be categorized into personal factors: freedom and flexibility, selfempowerment, independence, and exploration. Also, the absence of family responsibilities, routines, and gender constraints, as well as the promotion of their social and personal selves, contributed to their well-being. The results also indicate that, despite the restrictions imposed by Iran's religious-patriarchal society, tourism has made women more visible in the public sphere. Overall, this study fills a significant gap in tourism research by highlighting the experience, limitations, and motivation of solo female travellers, which heralds social change.

Do personal values and motivation affect women’s solo travel intentions in Taiwan?

“…Islam is a religion that permeates many facets of Muslim life, particularly among women and their leisure activities (Moghadam et al, 2009 ). In patriarchal Muslim communities, hegemonic masculinity has degraded the role of women (Hosseini et al, 2022 ). Therefore, women face various restrictions, such as not being allowed to travel alone or requiring permission from their father or husband to travel (Seyfi et al, 2022 ).…”

“…The severe domination of Islamic laws on cultures in traditional Muslim countries has weakened the effect of female sole travel motivation. However, recent study results indicate that solo travel motivations are independence, self-empowerment, freedom and flexibility, and exploration (Hosseini et al, 2022 ). The discussed literature suggests the differences between the female solo travel motivations of women in developed and developing countries is not that dissimilar.…”

Solo Travel Research and Its Gender Perspective: A Critical Bibliometric Review

“…Despite this, solo travel continues to be an under-researched area in the field of tourism, hospitality, and events [5,8,11,12,14,18,19]. Furthermore, research on solo travel is focused on solo female travel [2,18], neglects the experiences of men [20], and focuses on solo travelers from specific regions [2,6,18,21]. There is also little research on solo travel that compares the motivations of men and women [6].…”

Kadın Gezginlerin Deneyimleri Üzerine Bir Sosyal Medya Araştırması

“…Seyahatte kadınların çevresinden (aile, arkadaş vb.) uzaklaştığı ve kendisiyle baş başa kaldığı dolayısıyla derinlemesine düşünme fırsatı bulduğu için seyahatin kadınları güçlendirdiği bireylerin, hayatın anlamını gözden geçirme ve hayatını değiştirme konusunda verimli bir bakış açısı sağladığı belirtilmektedir (Hosseini, Macias & Garcia, 2022). Alanyazında da kadın gezginlerin hayatlarını dönüştürecek deneyimler arayışında oldukları, kendilerini güçlendirme ve meydan okuma motivasyonlarıyla seyahate motive oldukları kaydedilmiştir (Wilson & Harris, 2006;Wilson & Little, 2008;McNamara & Prideaux, 2010;Khan vd., 2017;Seow & Brown, 2018;Aslantürk & Unur, 2019).…”

“…(173'nolu gönderi) "Hayatım iş yoga ev döngüsünde geçerken karavanla tekrar mı kaçsak ki?" (236'nolu gönderi) Çalışmanın dikkat çeken bulgusu ise çalışmalarda ortaya çıkan(Small, 2005;Hosseini, Macias & Garcia, 2022) sonuçların aksine kadının toplumsal rollerine ilişkin açık bir kaçış ifadesine nadiren rastlandığıdır. Örneğin: "Kadınların özgürleşmesine dünyadaki diğer her şeyden daha çok bisiklet katkı sağlamıştır."…”