Women are  heading in  a new direction when it comes to travel. In many cases, they’re going it alone. According to statistics, women, especially millennials, relish solo travel and in the past decade the number of females exploring the world on their own has almost doubled.
In fact, the Conference Board of Canada reports that during the 2011-2012 winter vacation season, solo female travellers comprised only 4.6 per cent of Canadians who were planning a winter vacation. For the 2015-2016 season, it had risen to 7.4 per cent and for this current season (2018-2019), 8.2 per cent of respondents intending to travel are women travelling on their own.
“Research shows more and more Canadian women are travelling solo,” says Debbie Robinson, Director, Marketing and Customer Experience, Allianz Global Assistance Canada, a leading provider of travel insurance and assistance services. “In fact, our very own Winter Vacation Confidence survey shows that of the respondents, 23 per cent are women excited to explore new places.”
However, there are risks involved when travelling solo, regardless of gender. As with all travel, but perhaps more so when travelling alone, researching your destination and checking for travel advisories is an important part of being safe and enjoying the journey.  

Above: Women are leading the way in solo travel but there's insuring a safe trip can be challenging.

The Canadian government not only issues daily advisories, but it also has a valuable booklet for female travellers called "Her Own Way — a woman’s safe travel guide"  which you can see at: https://travel.gc.ca/travelling/publications/her-own-way
Some of the most influential online travel writers have advice for women travelling solo. For instance, Natalie Preddie, a prominent travel and lifestyle blogger and author of The Adventures of Natalie P & Co. (www.nattyponline.com), advises, “Don’t be afraid to make friends. Some of the most interesting experiences I’ve had while travelling solo have been with friends I’ve made on the go.”
Preddie and Allianz Canada also suggest that solo travellers keep people at home informed daily of their locations and plans.
“Travelling solo requires being well-prepared beyond making reservations and planning sightseeing,” adds Robinson, noting that approximately 38 per cent of women book vacations themselves.
So to help solo travellers, Allianz has developed a TripWise app which can help find authorised healthcare provider closets to you. The app supplies the physician’s phone number, address and website and also includes 2,000 hospitals in 129 countries.
TripWise also allows users to find international names for common prescription medications and store a photo of their prescription label for easy reference while travelling.
“Most of all, we want to encourage Canadian women to experience the special joy of travelling alone, safely,” says Robinson.

JUST THE FACTS

10 safest for women solo travellers:

1 - Finland

2 - Canada

3 - New Zealand

4 - Uruguay

5 - Switzerland

6 - Belgium

7 - Austria

8 - Iceland

9 - Japan

10 - Chile

10 most dangerous countries for solo travellers:

- Egypt

2 - Mexico

3 - Lebanon

4 - Saudi Arabia

5 - India

6 - Turkey

7 - Russia

8 - Morocco

9 - Colombia

10 - Honduras

Things to remember when travelling solo:

· Check daily government travel advisories for your destination;

· Make sure someone at home has your daily itinerary;

· Advise your hotel of your explorations each day before you leave;

· Sign up at www.travel.gc.ca/roca to enable the local Canadian Embassy or Consulate to contact you in case of an emergency;

· Make sure you have travel health and trip cancellation insurance.