Deciding to travel means accounting for many variables that will all impact the cost. But there is one factor that comes with its own elevated price tag: traveling as a woman.
BBC News journalist Lorin Bozkurt shared her experience choosing a hotel room as a woman. Her choices became more nuanced when she was presented with two options: staying on a mixed-gender floor or staying on a floor restricted to women only. One additional catch: the women-only floor cost extra.
In addition to Bozkurt’s experiences, there are also additional supplies to consider. Some women may carry self-defense tools as they travel through unfamiliar cities, and others may have to budget for whatever transportation method allows them to feel safe.
There are additional factors that just about every traveler must take into account, but for women they require extra consideration because of safety concerns. What are those additional costs, and just how prevalent have they become?
A Tax On Safety?
Traveling as a woman means managing some inherent costs. This includes amassing a proportionate amount of feminine hygiene products and, depending on culture or faith, modesty garments like veils.
But gradually, amenities and necessities alike that everyone requires access to start to cost a bit more for women, primarily because safety is a concern. For example, when booking a flight, a woman may account for the plane’s arrival time; if it is cheaper but due to land in the middle of the night, she might pass up that less expensive opportunity due to the discomfort of traveling an unfamiliar city in the dark.
A 2020 survey conducted by Solo Female Travelers and SheFari reports that over 70% of women worry about their safety when traveling, especially solo. That concern can affect even something as routine as getting dinner: rather than walking alone to a restaurant or picking up food after dark, a traveler may choose to order delivery instead, adding service fees and tips to the cost of the meal.
A Cascade Of Influences
Even as women express safety concerns when traveling, solo travel is still an increasing trend among that demographic. Statistics shared by Forbes show that several travel companies report women making up the majority of both travelers overall and solo travelers in particular.
Traveling solo actually comes with an inherently higher price tag than group travel, so making up the majority of that demographic also contributes to the amount women must pay.
TripCostGuides explains this discrepancy as simply a matter of fixed costs. Taxis, hotels, dinners—these will have a fixed price tag regardless of how many people pile in. When it’s a part of one, there’s no dividing that cost into something more tolerable.
Between the cost of traveling solo and the added price of safety, comfort, and necessity, women can find themselves paying noticeably more for the same trip.