Soni, Gagandeep; Hussain, Sarah; Shekhar; Chandan, Rachna. Enlightening Tourism. A Pathmaking Journal,

Vol 14, No 1 (2024), pp. 23-50

https://doi.org/10.33776/et.v14i1.8195

A PEEP INTO THE FUTURE THROUGH THE PAST: A BIBLIOMETRIC

ANALYSIS ON WOMEN TRAVELERS

Soni, Gagandeep.* Banarsidas Chandiwala Institute of Hotel Management & Catering

Technology, New Delhi, India.

Hussain, Sarah. Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management, Jamia Millia Islamia,

New Delhi, India

Shekhar. Faculty of Management Studies, University of Delhi, New Delhi, India.

Chandan, Rachna. Banarsidas Chandiwala Institute of Hotel Management & Catering

Technology, New Delhi, India.

* Corresponding author

Received February 2024; Accepted June 2024

ABSTRACT

The research investigates the advancements made in the

area of women travelers by examining publication trends,

top contributors, collaborations, and thematic areas. It

also explores ways to make travel more convenient for

women. The study analyzes data from articles published

in 41 journals from 1982 to 2023, using bibliometric

analysis, descriptive analysis, science mapping, citation

metrics, prestige analysis, keyword co-occurrence

metrics, and network analysis. The research reveals the

top ten authors, organizations, and countries in women

traveler-related literature. The study identifies five major

themes, including Women Travelers and Solo Travel,

Women Travelers and Travel Motivation, Women

Travelers and Purchase Intention, Women Travelers and

Girlfriend Getaways, and Women Travelers and Sexual

Behavior. A Focus Group Discussion with eleven

participants confirmed the thematic analysis findings,

revealing that women have a positive attitude towards

solo travel and that technology eases their travel. The

study identifies research gaps in women's travel and solo

travel and suggests managerial implications for making

women's travel safer and more convenient. The study

enhances the understanding of women traveler research,

raises awareness of research frontiers, and guides future

directions in business travel niche market segments.

RESUMEN

El estudio investiga los avances realizados en el ámbito de las

mujeres viajeras examinando las tendencias de publicación, los

principales colaboradores, las colaboraciones y las áreas

temáticas. También explora formas de hacer que los viajes sean

más convenientes para las mujeres. El estudio analiza datos de

artículos publicados en 41 revistas desde 1982 hasta 2023,

utilizando análisis bibliométrico, análisis descriptivo,

cartografía científica, métrica de citas, análisis de prestigio,

métrica de co-ocurrencia de palabras clave y análisis de redes.

La investigación revela los diez principales autores,

organizaciones y países en la literatura relacionada con las

mujeres viajeras. El estudio identifica cinco temas principales:

las mujeres viajeras y los viajes en solitario, las mujeres

viajeras y la motivación para viajar, las mujeres viajeras y la

intención de compra, las mujeres viajeras y las escapadas con

amigas, y las mujeres viajeras y el comportamiento sexual. Un

grupo de discusión con once participantes confirmó los

resultados del análisis temático, revelando que las mujeres

tienen una actitud positiva hacia los viajes en solitario y que la

tecnología facilita sus viajes. El estudio identifica lagunas en

la investigación sobre los viajes de las mujeres y los viajes en

solitario y sugiere implicaciones de gestión para hacer que los

viajes de las mujeres sean más seguros y más convenientes. El

estudio mejora la comprensión de la investigación sobre las

mujeres viajeras, sensibiliza sobre las fronteras de la

investigación y orienta futuras direcciones en segmentos de

mercado especializados en viajes de negocios.

KEYWORDS

Bibliometric Analysis; Women Travelers; Travel

Motivation; Purchase Intention; Girlfriend Getaways;

Sexual Behavior.

PALABRAS CLAVE

Análisis bibliométrico; mujeres viajeras; motivación para

viajar; intención de compra; escapadas con la novia;

comportamiento sexual.

ENLIGHTENING TOURISM: A PATHMAKING

JOURNAL

journal homepage: https://uhu.es/publicaciones/ojs/index.php/et

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Soni, Gagandeep; Hussain, Sarah; Shekhar; Chandan, Rachna. Enlightening Tourism. A Pathmaking Journal,

Vol 14, No 1 (2024), pp. 23-50

https://doi.org/10.33776/et.v14i1.8195

1. INTRODUCTION

There has been a notable increase in interest

in research directly related to women and female

travelers (Ghadban et al., 2023; Osman et al.,

2020; Schmalz et al., 2021; Yang et al., 2017).

Women have meaningfully contributed to the

rise in mobility in recent years (Tilley &

Houston, 2016). The female traveler statistics

reveal the significance of women travelers to the

travel economy of the world. Women are

recognized as the most important and fastest-

growing market segment (Gomes &

Montenegro, 2016). Women are documented as

key spenders and major travel decision-makers

(Radic et al., 2021). They possess extensive

fiscal strength and control a spending power of

20 trillion dollars (Kent, 2010) whilst making 80

percent of purchase decisions related to travel

and tourism (Bond, 2005). Women travelers

create an impact on all echelons of this industry.

Women are more educated than their male

counterparts (Anon, 1996 as cited in Hao & Har,

2014) and earn as much as or greater than men.

An upsurge in the number of women entering the

world of entrepreneurship, business,

professionals, and, managers depicts that this

trend is on the rise (Lutz & Ryan, 1993). A

remarkable change in the role of women in the

household and an increase in the number of

women workforces are the key reasons

underlying the fact that women travel more

frequently, and over great distances as well

(Kalter et al., 2009). Unsurprisingly, extant

travel and tourism research is steered towards

making attempts to understand the women

traveler market in a better manner. Researchers

and scholars have made continuous efforts to

understand the niche market segments of women

business travelers (Narula et al., 2022; Narula et

al., 2022a); solo female travelers (Hosseini et al.,

2022; Yang et al., 2018), the girlfriend getaway

market (Khoo-Lattimore & Gibson, 2018);

senior women travelers (Alen et al., 2017);

educated women travelers (Hritz et al., 2014);

women cruisers (Radic et al., 2021) and the

adventure seekers (Clarke et al., 2022).

The literature available on female travelers is

intensifying, therefore, making it essential to

encompass the wealth of knowledge based on

this arena. Despite the upward quest, women-

focused research is disparate and fragmented,

since studies in this arena have been intertwined

with gender-based perspectives (Otegui-Carles

et al., 2022). Therefore, the main objective of

this research is to investigate the advancement

and progress in studies emphasizing women

travelers by addressing the following research

questions:

RQ.1. What are the publication trends and

top contributors focused on women travelers

from year to year and through academic

journals?

RQ.2. What is the number of authors

collaborating to publish research articles on the

theme of women travelers?

RQ.3. What are the major thematic areas that

have been covered over the years related to

women travelers?

For the achievement of these research

questions, a bibliometric analysis has been

conducted using data from the articles published

in 41 journals dating from 1982 to 2023.

Bibliometrics research is an informetric (Egghe

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Soni, Gagandeep; Hussain, Sarah; Shekhar; Chandan, Rachna. Enlightening Tourism. A Pathmaking Journal,

Vol 14, No 1 (2024), pp. 23-50

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& Rousseau, 1990; Wolfram, 2003), reliable and

cost-effective analysis, measuring and

monitoring the scientific outputs (Campbell et

al., 2010), and establishing quantitative analysis

(Ellegaard & Wallin, 2015) of the study.

The research gaps highlight that there is a

geographical concentration of authors and study

areas are limited. This lack of spread among the

researchers has led to a lack of evaluation of

women's solo travels components from different

cultural lenses. More investigation is required to

understand the issues surrounding female solo

travel from the perspective of native women,

who had limited access to social inclusion.

Specifically, the literature is concentrated on a

few Asian, European, and Caribbean nations as

hosts of women travelers. Researchers could also

focus on the potential of developing female solo

travel sites in other nations. Consequently, more

diversity in the sample and study regions is

needed. Additionally, more cross-disciplinary

research is needed on operational issues,

promotion and advertising, image building,

ethical and legal issues, and the psychological

impact of mislabeling and branding.

Furthermore, digital transformation in travel and

its impact on women travelers, including the role

of social media, online communities, and digital

platforms, has great potential to be studied.

This study enables scholars and imminent

researchers to identify the prolific and major

contributors to the research alliance. Researchers

from countries where the study of women

travelers is in a nascent stage can also benefit

from the constructs already established in

progressive countries. After this brief

introduction, the next section presents the

research methodology. The findings and results

of the study are discussed. The last and final

section highlights the conclusion and

suggestions for future scope of research.

2. METHODOLOGY

This research work was based on the literature

review of previous research work related to the

topic. The literature review helps in providing

summarized and background information about

the topic. A practical, detailed, relevant literature

review (Boote & Baile, 2005) is a coherent need

for explaining the continuance of knowledge and

establishing the starting point of further

investigation (Kothari, 2004). To categorize and

analyze the scientific literature related to this

topic bibliometric analysis was performed on the

data collected. It will help to identify and analyze

the author's profiles, sources, most cited sources,

and countries in the literature on women travelers

(Sahni & Kaurav, 2023) along with the concept

and social structure of the literature on the subject

(Rojas-Sánchez et al., 2023)

For the present research work, publications

from Scopus-indexed journals were selected. For

bibliometric analysis, collected data was

analyzed with descriptive analysis, science

mapping as bibliographic coupling, citation

metrics, prestige analysis, keyword co-

occurrence metrics; and network analysis as co-

author analysis and co-citation analysis. For

achieving RQ1, network analysis was observed to

calculate the top contributors for the publication

count; and study the relationships between

publications based on citation metrics, which can

be identified by applying citation analysis (CA),

bibliographic coupling, and keyword analysis.

PageRank metrics calculate the prestige of the

research field derived from the cited article

received from highly-cited publications (Donthu

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Soni, Gagandeep; Hussain, Sarah; Shekhar; Chandan, Rachna. Enlightening Tourism. A Pathmaking Journal,

Vol 14, No 1 (2024), pp. 23-50

https://doi.org/10.33776/et.v14i1.8195

et al., 2021). It helps in measuring the impact of

publications (Ding et al., 2009) and, establishes

the authorship and publication pattern in terms of

the country and region from where it is published.

Co-author network analysis helps in analyzing

the authorship metrics for the publication and

accomplishing RQ2.

Bibliographic coupling (BC analysis) and

keywords co-occurrence analysis help to identify

the major thematic areas that have been covered

over the years related to women travelers (RQ3).

Themes are identified with the help of keywords

and co-citation and then form the collected data

set; patterns are established with the help of

scientific mapping. Bibliometric analysis is

extensively acknowledged for generating an all-

inclusive summary of a research topic of interest

with clearly defined boundaries whilst also

recommending the scope of future research

without much subjective bias (Fahimnia et al.,

2015). The extant literature related to a topic

concerning key authors, their organizations, and

countries can be documented using this

methodology (Xu et al., 2018). Bibliometric

analysis has been used across multiple domains

for summarizing and mapping research trends

like marketing citations, finance citations,

psychology, business and management, and

several domains of social sciences humanities,

and science.

Document properties comprise authors and

their affiliations (university and country)

publication period, citations, sources,

sponsorship, research area, keywords or research

topic, and the scale and influence of the

documents. Understanding and analyzing the

above aspects provides a basis for bibliometric

studies, to present a detailed overview of the

existing landscape of scientific production in a

given field or area of study, including tourism.

(Rauniyar et al., 2021).

Analyzing citations from documents

published in a particular field study helps

understand the evolution of a specific topic and

its impact on a specific discipline (Ronda-Pupo &

Guerras-Martín, 2012).

2.1) TECHNIQUES ADOPTED

For Bibliometric analysis, a combination of

techniques has been used as recommended by

previous studies. It involves BC analysis. In BC

analysis, the number of references shared by two

documents is considered to gauge the similarity

between them (Kessler, 1963). The limitation of

the method is that it can only be used for a

limited period (Weinberg, 1974). As the focus is

not on citation, establishing whether the mapped

publications are of importance is difficult (Zupic

& ae, 2015). To oecome he limiation, CA

is used as another measure of productivity. CA

analyzes the impact of a researcher or

publication by calculating the frequency of

citations by others (Suban, 2023). A major

drawback of CA is that it is limited to academic

community works and ignores society or popular

interest, the other shortcomings are citation bias,

manipulation possibility, not considering author

sequence, and citations getting published only in

indeed jonal (Woall & Cohn, 2023).

Another important analysis that is recommended

by the authors is Prestige analysis, which ranks

the publications based on their PageRank

statistics. Page Rank helps in establishing the

importance of a publication in the sample

(Asthana, 2022), though it tends to favor an older

page (Coppola et al., 2019). In the end, keyword

co-occurrence analysis has been carried out on

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Soni, Gagandeep; Hussain, Sarah; Shekhar; Chandan, Rachna. Enlightening Tourism. A Pathmaking Journal,

Vol 14, No 1 (2024), pp. 23-50

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author-given keywords and indexed keywords

which examines the real subject matter of the

publications in terms of words that usually hail

from the keywords used by authors, making

groups of words based on thematic similarities

(Donthu et al., 2021). For the above-mentioned

analysis MS Excel, Gephi, VOSviewer, Science

of Science tool (Sci 2), and Inkscape.

OpenRefine software has been used to refine the

data and check for inconsistencies. Prestige

analysis was carried out in Sci2 and visualized in

Gephi. All the other analyses have been carried

out in VOSviewer.

For the network analysis, we have used co-

authorship analysis, an important analysis to

determine the collaboration pattern between the

researchers. These collaboration networks of co-

authorship display the influence of co-

authorship, research teams, and collaboration

output. Co-citation analysis and dynamic co-

citation analysis have been used to identify the

different thematic patterns in the studied topic,

their evolution, identification of emerging

themes, and scope for future directions in

research. Both these analyses have been carried

out in Gephi and Sci2. For RQ1, the study uses

Descriptive analysis, BC analysis, Citation-

count analysis, and Prestige analysis. For RQ2,

co-authorship network analysis, and For RQ3,

keyword Co-occurrence analysis and co-citation

analysis with dynamic co-citation have been

used in the study.

A focus group discussion (FGD) was

conducted to validate the findings of the

bibliometric analysis (Kanta et al., 2021) whilst

revealing insights from the perspective of solo

women travelers. Based on the literature

recommendation, a sample of eleven

respondents consisting of women who have

traveled solo to national and international

destinations shared their solo travel experiences

in a discussion moderated by the lead author, and

notes were prepared by the co-author. The

discussion lasted for three hours and was

conducted at the institute of one of the lead

authors. The respondents were briefly explained

the purpose of data collection and a written

consent to record and use their responses for

academic work was obtained. The respondents

were questioned about the emotions experienced

during travel, challenges faced, and how they

addressed them, the impact of the culture of the

host country on their experiences, and the role of

technology in making their travel convenient.

They were further enquired about their shopping

behavior and other activities which shared their

overall experience. Any clarification, if required,

was sought through personal communication

with the concerned respondent. The transcripts

were shared with the respondents. The data was

collected from women travelers from Sri Lanka,

Afghanistan, China, Australia, England, the

United States of America, and India. Four

respondents were from India and one from each

of the countries.

2.2) SELECTION OF

LITERATURE

2.2.1) Data Sources and Search

Strategies

As per the adopted protocol for conducting

bibliometric analysis, the selection of literature

was achieved in three distinct phases- scanning

the documents, curating the search results, and

finally profiling the documents (Khanra et al.,

2020). The literature published in Scopus

Indexed journals was accessed for scanning

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Soni, Gagandeep; Hussain, Sarah; Shekhar; Chandan, Rachna. Enlightening Tourism. A Pathmaking Journal,

Vol 14, No 1 (2024), pp. 23-50

https://doi.org/10.33776/et.v14i1.8195

articles based on women travelers because

previous reviews highlight that Scopus has more

coverage of articles than its peer Web of Science

database citations. Also, unlike Google Scholar

and similar databases, Scopus-indexed studies

are more stringently peer-reviewed, reducing the

quality uncertainty from the sample citations.

2.2.2) Scanning Phase

The search string used Title-Abs-Keywords

("women travel*" OR "women tourist" OR

"female ael*" OR "female oi" OR (Solo

Tael AND (WOMEN OR FEMALE) AND

Title-Abs-Keywords ("hospitality" OR "hotel"

OR "accommodation"). A total of 197 articles

were the outcome of a database search (as on

November 20, 2023), published between 1982-

2023. The initial dataset was collected in

November 2023 using the above search string

which was further curated in the successive

months.

2.2.3) Curating Phase

These 197 articles were further refined based

on hei bjec aea, docmen pe,

oce pe, and langage in he Scop

database. The subject area was limited to

Bine and Managemen, Social Science,

Toim and Hopiali, and Women-based

Sdie. The oce pe and docmen pe

ee limied o Jonal and Aicle,

respectively, since the journal articles undergo a

thorough peer-review, thus guaranteeing the

research quality. Lastly, the language was

limied o Englih o oecome emanic and

translation-related issues. 86 articles were

removed in the filtration, resulting in 111 articles

for analysis. Before proceeding to the descriptive

analysis, the data was cleaned using OpenRefine

to merge and cluster similar author names, and

institutions, and remove any discrepancy in

publication titles. Table 1 offers a glimpse of the

search and filtration strategy. Figure 1 depicts

the different phases of the systematic literature

review conducted.

Peid

1982  2023

N. f

Aicle

Daabae

Scop

Keod

hopiali OR hoel OR accommodaion

197

File ed

Subject area:

Business and

Management,

Social Sciences,

Tourism and

Hospitality,

Women-based

Studies

Dce

e: Aicle

Sce

e:

Jonal

Lagage:

Englih

111

Aicle f Aali

111

Table 1. Search and filtration strategy (Soce: Aho On Peenaion)

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Soni, Gagandeep; Hussain, Sarah; Shekhar; Chandan, Rachna. Enlightening Tourism. A Pathmaking Journal,

Vol 14, No 1 (2024), pp. 23-50

https://doi.org/10.33776/et.v14i1.8195

Fige 1. Phae of he SLR poce

2.2.4) Analyzing Phase

The final dataset of 111 articles was analyzed

using MS Excel and relevant bibliometric

ofae. The fi d Women and ael b

Rena Bartos was published in 1982, and since

then it has attracted the attention of academicians

frequently. However, a constant variability has

been identified till 2015, but in later years there

has been a substantial increase in the related

publications (Figure 2). The descriptive results

in Table 2 show that the United States and

Australia are the active countries in publishing

the related research. Based on the total

publications (TP), the list of top active

organizations for women traveler-related

literature was dominated by Griffith University

and the University of Florida. In addition,

Tourism Management, Current Issues in

Tourism, and Annals of Tourism Research are

the most preferred publication titles in the field.

Among the authors, the most prominent author is

Khoo-Lattimore C., who is followed by Prayag

G. and Gibson H. J. However, the author count

for total publications is low, which directs the

need for comprehensive research on the related

topic.

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Soni, Gagandeep; Hussain, Sarah; Shekhar; Chandan, Rachna. Enlightening Tourism. A Pathmaking Journal,

Vol 14, No 1 (2024), pp. 23-50

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Fige 2. Pblicaion end in omen' ael

Author

Organization

Country

Publication

Title

Khoo-Lattimore

Griffith University

United

States

Tourism

Management

Prayag G.

University of Florida

Australia

Current Issues in

Tourism

Gibson H.J.

University of

Canterbury

United

Kingdom

Annals of

Tourism

Research

Wang X.

Purdue University

China

Journal of

Travel Research

Berdychevsky L.

University of Illinois

New

Zealand

Tourist Studies

Yang E.C.L.

Ben-Gurion

University of the

Negev

Canada

Tourism

Arcodia C.,

The Hong Kong

Polytechnic

University

Taiwan

Gender, Place

and Culture

Lai I.K.W.

Bournemouth

University

Malaysia

Tourism

Management

Perspectives

Poria Y.

University of Waikato

Spain

Journal of

Vacation

Marketing

Falconer E.

Universiti Putra

Malaysia

Israel

Leisure Studies

Table 2. Top authors, organizations, countries, and most-preferred publication title based on publication count

(Soce: Aho Compilaion)

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Soni, Gagandeep; Hussain, Sarah; Shekhar; Chandan, Rachna. Enlightening Tourism. A Pathmaking Journal,

Vol 14, No 1 (2024), pp. 23-50

https://doi.org/10.33776/et.v14i1.8195

3. RESULTS

3.1) BIBLIOGRAPHIC COUPLING

(BC ANALYSIS)

Several metrics reflect the quality of the

publication. The first such metric adopted in the

study is BC. The results of BC are obtained for

the top ten authors, organizations, and countries

(Table 3). The ranking list of authors is based on

their Total Link Strength (TLS) score. Among

the most influential authors is Khoo-Lattimore

C. with a TLS score of 69.43 followed by Yang

E.C.L (TLS: 48.6), and Arcodia C. (TLS: 34.6).

For the institutions, it is observed that the

University of Illinois is on the top with a TLS

score of 136.33 followed by the University of the

West of England (TLS: 118) and the University

of Bedfordshire (TLS: 118). For the countries,

Australia ranks at the top of the list with a TLS

score of 728.57 followed by New Zealand (TLS:

550.76) and United States (TLS: 398.96). The

lists highlight one major concern that none of the

African nations or universities feature in this list.

It might be because of the security concerns for

solo female travel in such nations. Another

highlight is the variation in ranking based on the

total publications (Table 2) which reflects that

publication influence goes beyond the number of

publications.

Author

TLS

Organization

TLS

Country

TLS

Khoo-Lattimore

69.43

University of Illinois

136.33

Australia

728.57

Yang E.C.L.

48.6

University of the West of

England

118

New Zealand

550.76

Arcodia C.

34.6

University of Bedfordshire

118

United States

398.69

Berdychevsky L.

University of Florida

112

China

310.23

Brown L.

Montclair State

University

111

Malaysia

233

Osman H.

The Pennsylvania State

University

111

Taiwan

206.59

Prayag G.

20.83

Bournemouth University

United Kingdom

192.76

Zhang L.

University Of Canterbury

Business School

Israel

150.33

Dogru T.

Griffith University

Canada

Karagöz D.

University Of Canterbury

Spain

57.33

Table 3. Top authors, organizations, and countries based on Bibliographic Coupling

(Source: Aho On Compaion)

BC analysis was then carried out to identify

the influential articles ranked and sorted based

on TLS score (Table 4). The study by Hosseini

et al. (2022) tops the list with a TLS score of 45.

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It is closely followed by a study by

Berdychevsky et al. (2013a); Berdychevsky et al.

(2015); Yang et al. (2018); and with a TLS score

of 41. The key highlight is that all these studies

are published within a decade (2013-2022). This

shows that the topic is gaining the attention of

academia in the present times. Another highlight

is that two studies are by the same author groups

while two studies have one common author.

Most of these studies are undertaken by the

authors who are among the influential authors

listed as per the BC analysis.

S. N

Ah

Pae Tile

TLS

Hoeini S.; Macia R.C.;

Gacia F.A. (2022)

The eploaion of Ianian olo female aelle'

epeience

Bedchek L.; Gibon

H.J. (2015)

Se and ik in ong omen' oi epeience:

Cone, likelihood, and coneence

Yan g E. C.L.; Kh oo-

Laimoe C.; Acodia C.

(2018)

Poe and empoemen: Ho Aian olo female

aelle peceie and negoiae ik

Bedchek L.; Poia Y.;

Uiel N. (2013)

Seal behaio in omen' oi epeience:

Moiaion, behaio, and meaning

Yan g E. C.L.; Kh oo-

Laimoe C.; Acodia C.

(2018)

Concing Space and Self hogh Rik Taking: A

Cae of Aian Solo Female Taele

Table 4. Top publications based on BC (Soce: Aho On Compaion)

3.2) CITATION ANALYSIS

The second metric for determining the

influential publications is CA. Similar to BC

analysis, CA is carried out for authors,

organizations, countries, and documents (Table

5 and Table 6) and ranking is based on total

citation (TC) count. Among the influential

authors is Khoo-Lattimore, C. with a TC count

of 357 followed by Pruitt, D. (TC: 279) and

Lafont, S. (TC: 279). For the institutions, the

University of California tops the list with a TC

count of 279 followed by the Autonomous

University of Santo Domingo (TC:179) and the

University of Guelph (TC:179). United States

tops the list of CA with 1074 citations followed

by Australia (TC: 869) and United Kingdom

(TC: 533). The ranks of authors, institutions, and

countries differ from those of TP and BC (Table

1 and Table 2) which shows that none of these

metrics can act as standalone measures and we

need to consider diverse metrics sources to

gauge influence.

Author

Organization

Country

Khoo-Lattimore

357

University of California

279

United States

1074

Pruitt D.

279

Autonomous University of

Santo Domingo

179

Australia

869

Lafont S.

279

University of Guelph

179

United Kingdom

533

Yang E.C.L.

243

University of Warwick

169

New Zealand

330

Littrell M.A.

237

The University of Waikato

157

Canada

321

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Kim S.

237

Southern Cross University

157

Taiwan

118

Arcodia C.

196

University of Georgia

153

China

111

Garcia R.

179

University of the West of

England

134

Israel

Herold E.

179

University of Bedfordshire

134

Malaysia

Sánchez Taylor

169

Tilburg University

130

Spain

Table 5. Top authors, organizations, and countries based on Citation Analysis

(Soce: Aho On Compaion)

Similarly, the articles are ranked based on

Local Citation Count (LCC) from the Scopus

database and Global Citation Count (GCC) from

Google Scholar to identify the most influential

articles. The analysis makes two key

observations. First, none of the study features in

the list of influential papers as per BC analysis.

Second, the studies are older than the studies in

Table 2. It is due to the limitation of CA that the

old studies have a chance of higher citations.

However, the analysis still helps in finding

valuable contributions. As per the results, a study

by Kim and Littrell (2001) has the highest GCC

of 438 followed by Herold et al. (2001) (GCC:

437) and Taylor (2001) (GCC: 361). The list is

similar as per local citation count with minor

changes in ranking of the articles.

S. N

Pae Tile

Yea

LCC

GCC

Female oi and beach bo, omance o e oim?

2001

179

437

Dolla ae a gil' be fiend? Female oi' eal

behaio in he Caibbean

2001

169

361

The olo female ael epeience: Eploing he 'geogaph

of omen' fea'

2008

157

321

Soeni bing inenion fo elf-e ohe

2001

153

438

Toim and he ealiaion of he gae: Solo female

oi' epeience of gendeed poe, eillance and

embodimen

2008

134

256

Table 6. Top Articles based on Citation Analysis

(Soce: Aho On Compaion and Compilaion)

3.3) PRESTIGE ANALYSIS

Overcoming the limitations of CA, Prestige

analysis helps in ranking publications based on

the PageRank statistics. The results rank the

publications based on PageRank (Table 7) and

illustrate a mix of new and old studies in the list.

It adds the contribution of this analysis which

does not rank articles based solely on the shared

reference lists or number of times cited. The

study by Karagöz et al. (2021) is the most

influential study with a PageRank of 0.027838

followed by the study by Khoo-Lattimore &

Gibson (2018) (PageRank: 0.027207). Only the

study by Jordan & Aitchison (2008) is common

from the top cited articles list and Yang et al.

(2018) is common from the list of studies as per

BC analysis. Thus, through this analysis, the

study recommends using other metrics along

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with the citations to identify the influential

articles as the results differ for all three analyses.

S. N

Pae Tile

Yea

PageRak

Solo female ael ik, anie and ael inenion:

eamining he modeaing ole of online pchological-ocial

ppo

2021

0.027838

Undeanding omen' accommodaion epeience on

gilfiend geaa: a pagmaic acion eeach appoach

2018

0.027207

Poe and empoemen: Ho Aian olo female aelle

peceie and negoiae ik

2018

0.02521

The eploaion of Ianian olo female aelle' epeience

2022

0.023917

Toim and he ealiaion of he gae: Solo female

oi' epeience of gendeed poe, eillance and

embodimen

2008

0.022978

Table 7. Top Articles based on Prestige Analysis (Soce: Aho On Compaion)

3.4) KEYWORD CO-OCCURRENCE

ANALYSIS

To begin with the thematic analysis, major

keywords were identified based on their

occurring frequency. The Scopus database has

two types of keywords; author-provided and

indexed keywords. The keyword co-occurrence

analysis was carried out in VOSviewer for both

types of keywords and in the process, a co-

occurrence map was prepared. The identified

keywords were further classified into clusters

and each cluster in the map represents a single

cluster. Each keyword is denoted by a node and

greater frequency means a bigger node. The third

figure depicts author-given keywords (Figure 3).

The keywords are categorized into eight

different thematic clusters. The first cluster has

major keywords such as solo female travel,

independent travel, travel constraints, and visit

intention. The second cluster has keywords such

as girlfriend getaway, sex tourism, Caribbean

Island, and intimacy. The third cluster has

keywords motivation, segmentation, hotel

attributes, and accommodation needs of female

solo travelers. The fourth cluster revolves around

the motivation and well-being of solo female

travelers of the Middle East region. The fifth

cluster is on mobility issues, sexual harassment,

and safety concerns among female travelers. The

sixth cluster has keywords on romance tourism,

adventure aspects of female travel, and travel

needs of older women. The seventh cluster has

keywords on the role of female travel in

exploring sexuality and feminism. The eighth

cluster has major keywords such as feminist

geography, and associated risk, and studies focus

on the role of female solo travel in understanding

such behavior.

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Fge 3. C-ccece e f ah-ded ed

Figure 4 represents the map of the co-

occurrence of indexed keywords. The advantage

of this analysis is that while author-given

keywords provide a very minute detail of the

themes and concepts, indexed keywords are

more structured and organized and establish

well-defined thematic clusters. Here, the

keywords are organized into five thematic

clusters. In the first cluster, major keywords are

tourism management, consumption behavior,

exploration, lifestyle, sexual behavior,

stereotype, Asia, and India. Thus, it means that

studies in this cluster focus on consumer-related

aspects of female solo travel in the Asian region.

In the second cluster, the studies focus on the

theoretical studies of female travel in the

Middle-Eastern region with a focus on risk

assessment in tourist destinations, identifying

major attractions, and the influence of Islamism

on female solo travel. In the third cluster, studies

have focused on gender roles, gender disparity,

women's status, patriarchy, perception, and its

impact on women's travel. The fourth cluster has

studies on racism, gender relations, power

relations, and empowerment through female

travel. The fifth and biggest cluster has studies

covering aspects such as health education,

pregnancy, sexuality, decision-making,

psychology of female travel, sexual health, and

risk-taking behavior. In this cluster, most of the

studies involve human experiments and uncover

paicipan behaio a he moe fom age

groups like adolescents, children, and adults.

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Fge 4. C-ccece e f deed ed

3.5) NETWORK ANALYSIS

3.5.1) Co-authorship analysis

Baed on he d objecie, he anali

then moves on to identifying the pattern of

collaboration that exists between the authors. A

network map is created based on the co-

authorship data (Figure 5) that highlights a

negligible collaboration between authors. It has

two major implications, first, limited

collaboration indicates limited cross-country

exchange of knowledge. This would support the

argument that there is a low level of research in

many countries and that research is

geographically concentrated, which could serve

as an agenda for future research. Second, limited

collaboration also means the possibility that the

topics have not yet fully matured. It indicates the

possibility of further engagement on the topics,

which would be supported by conducting a

temporal analysis of the themes. Nevertheless,

Khoo-Lattimore, C. and Prayag, G. have the

greatest number of article collaborations

between them, who are among the influential

authors listed as per BC, TP, and CA in the

study. Their studies focus on segmenting the

hotel accommodation needs of solo female

travelers, understanding the motivational

differences of Western and Asian female

travelers on girlfriend getaways and their

accommodation needs, and the impact of image

and loyalty on the accommodation preferences

of Asian female travelers. Another collaboration

exists between Khoo-Lattimore, C. with Yang,

E.C.L. and Arcodia, C. where the studies focus

on the perception and negotiation of risks by

female solo travelers. In a nutshell, the lack of

collaboration opens up research avenues for

scholars who may contribute by extending to the

existing themes of collaboration or collaborating

to contribute to new topics and themes.

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Fige 5. Co-ahohip neok

3.5.2) Co-citation analysis

The study then identifies the major themes in

the existing literature through co-citation

analysis and establishes whether the existing

themes have been exhausted or there is scope for

extending the research. It is done through a

content analysis carried out in the latter section

of the study. Through co-citation analysis in

Gephi, the study identifies that there exist five

major thematic clusters. In Figure 6, these

thematic clusters are represented with different

shades. The node represents the number of

studies in each cluster. The size of the node is

based on PageRank, which means that the more

prestigious articles under each theme, the bigger

the node size. The five identified themes are,

women travelers and girlfriend getaways,

women travelers and sexual behavior, women

travelers and purchase intention, women

travelers and solo travel, and women travelers

and travel motivation.

The temporal analysis of these themes shows

their evolution, Table 8 shows the evolution of

different thematic clusters based on the co-

citation analysis. Of the total sample, the co-

citation cluster of 94 studies is divided into five

thematic clusters. While, Theme 5 (T5), focusing

on women travelers and sexual behavior, has the

highest publication count followed by T4

(women travelers and girlfriend getaways) and

T1, Theme 3 (T3) and Theme 2 (T2) (women

travelers and travel motivation) have the least

publication count. Studies in theme 5 are the

oldest followed by the studies in T3 and T4. T1

is the emerging theme in the studied topic with

studies focusing on women travelers and solo

travel. Of all the themes, Theme 3, focusing on

women travelers and purchase intention, does

not have any new studies published in the last

few years, indicating that this theme has become

obsolete due to the passage of time or no new

findings were observed to continue the research.

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Fge 6. Theac ce  e ae eeach

Yea

Gad Tal

1995

1999

2001

2003

2006

2007

2008

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

Gad Tal

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Table 8. Temporal evolution of thematic clusters (Soce: Aho On Compaion)

4. DISCUSSION

4.1) IDENTIFIED THEMES IN

LITERATURE

4.1.1) Women Travelers and Solo

Travel

The solo female travelers trend is constantly

gaining popularity and has been on the rise. Solo

female travel motivation has been found to

explore, break away, unwind, engage socially,

enhance self-esteem (Chiang & Jogaratnam,

2006), independence and solitude (Jin & Zhang,

2023; Yang et al., 2019), freedom, self-

development, and social interaction, fostering

cultural exchange and friendships (Osman et al.,

2020). Even in highly patriarchal societies,

women have taken up solo travels. Solo female

travel motivations in Iran, despite religious-

patriarchal restrictions, have increased women's

visibility in the public sphere (Hosseini et al.,

2022). Virtual tourism has been bliss for women

wanting to feel the excitement of traveling solo.

Virtual tourism helped Iranian women to

overcome constraints (Kiani et al., 2024). As

navigating to unknown cultures causes anxiety

among female solo travelers, virtual tours help

them familiarise themselves with the

destinations. Similarly, such tours help them

plan their travel better and identify what other

issues travelers may encounter in their journey.

On probing further, solo female travelers have

different sets of challenges and coping

mechanisms as per their ethnicities. For

example, solo journeys for Asian women

challenge societal expectations, revealing their

struggle to define their identity and navigate the

intersection of personal and societal identities

(Yang et al., 2019). The research revealed that

not only young and middle-aged women travel

solo but older age women also embraced solo

travel and faced different sets of challenges.

Older Chinese women faced constraints related

to pleasure travel, with limited knowledge of the

destination, its culture, health concerns, lack of

companionship, poor services, and inadequate

information. (Gao & Kerstetter, 2016). Proper

counseling enabled these women capable of

taking risks. Solo female travel risks, including

gender, destination, and socio-psychological

issues, negatively impact travel intentions and

anxiety levels, but online psychological and

social support can mitigate this effect (Karagöz

et al., 2021).

4.1.2) Women Travelers and Travel

Motivation

Women travelers, like any other

demographic group, are motivated to travel for a

variety of reasons. Travel motivations can be

diverse and influenced by personal interests,

goals, and circumstances. Yang et al. (2017)

recognized women's travel behavior inclined

toward cultural and gender-based customary

identities. Seeking relaxation and wellness is a

significant motivation for travel among women

(Lee et al., 2019). This may involve vacations to

spa resorts, wellness retreats, or destinations

known for their natural beauty. Health benefits

act as the moderating factor by inducing positive

emotions and their behavioral approach toward

tourism (Radic et al., 2021). The desire to

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explore new places, discover unfamiliar

cultures, and travel to escape daily stressors is

another common motivation. Exploring

adventure activities creates personal

performance realization, which empowers

women's narratives to retell their experiences

and achievements (Myers, 2010). The desire for

independence and self-discovery motivates

many women to embark on solo travel

adventures. Solo travel allows for personal

growth, empowerment, and a sense of

accomplishment. Women's solo tourism helps in

negotiating self-identity risks and gaining self-

transformations from a personal level to a social

level (Yang et al., 2018). Recognizing and

respecting these motivations contributes to

creating more inclusive and tailored travel

experiences for women.

4.1.3) Women Travelers and Purchase

Intention

Understanding the purchase intention of

women travelers is essential for businesses in the

travel industry to effectively target and cater to

their needs (Khan et al., 2017). Purchase

intention refers to the willingness of consumers

to buy a product or service and is influenced by

various factors. Kim & Littrell (1999) identified

personal desires and manifesting individual

values; souvenir uniqueness, aesthetic qualities,

and portability create the intention to purchase.

Past travel experiences and the impact of buying

souvenirs, whether for themselves or others, also

lead to a significant variation in their purchasing

intentions. (Kim & Littrell, 2001). Safety-

security and accommodation preferences play a

significant role in their purchase intention,

followed by social responsibility, promotions

and discounts, accessibility, and cultural

sensitivity. Recognizing and addressing the

factors that influence women's purchase

intentions is crucial for businesses in the travel

industry to attract and retain female customers.

By addressing their specific needs, preferences,

and values, businesses can craft more tailored

and inclusive travel experiences that resonate

with women travelers.

4.1.4) Women Travelers and

Girlfriend Getaways

Girlfriend getaways (GGA) significantly

impact the quality of the tourist experience (Khoo-

Lattimore & Gibson, 2018). When a group of female

friends embarks on a trip together, it often leads to

unique dynamics and shared experiences that

contribute positively to the overall journey.

Enhancing social interaction, creating a support

system, and providing a sense of freedom, wellness,

and relaxation are some of the influencing factors

for GGAs (Chen et al., 2022). Women travelers can

plan trips that allow for quality time and shared

experiences. The dimensions of GGA for women

travelers can vary greatly depending on the

preferences and dynamics of the group. Few

identified dimensions are mental well-being and

escapism (Wang et al., 2023); different gender

dynamics (Berdychevsky et al. 2013b); existential

authenticity (Chen et al., 2022); and empowerment

(Durko & Stone, 2017). Wang et al. (2022)

identified happiness as the most important intention

of GGA to revisit the destinations, while in another

study, Wang et al. (2023) identified the connection

between girlfriends as an important influence on

their travel satisfaction. GGAs are often centered

around strengthening bonds and enjoying the

camaraderie of female friendships. Kong, et al.

(2022) explained GGA based on the concept of

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intimacy, with its certain limitations and

togetherness extending it to the sisterhood.

4.1.5) Women Travelers and Sexual

Behavior

In terms of tourism, the inversion of women's

sexual behavior is considered self-exploratory

and self-transformative. The sexual individuality

of women travelers can be identified as the

complex expression of mind, language, and body

(Berdychevsky et al., 2015). The baby-boomer

generation is considered the first generation to

perceive the sexual freedom concept

(Sonikai, 2020). Women, like all indiidal,

have the right to make decisions about their

bodies and personal lives. Respect for personal

autonomy is fundamental when discussing

sexual behavior among women travelers.

Although relaxation is constructed as the

ultimate context for sex with a steady partner,

group tours are considered the optimal context

for casual sex. Solo women travelers find sex

tourism an empowering, and rewarding

experience (Berdychevsky & Gibson, 2015).

Specifically, sexual behavior offers a boldness

perceived as resistance to traditional sexual

roles, serving as a source of empowerment and

maturity (Berdychevsky et al., 2013b). Women

travelers should be aware of and respect the

cultural context of the places they visit. In terms

of tourism, risk can be elaborated with the

framework including traveling context, travelers'

likelihood, and its consequences (Ryan, 2003).

However, with its subjective impact, sexual risk-

taking can also lead to detrimental impacts on

women travelers (Berdychevsky & Gibson,

2015).

4.2 ) Findings of FGD

FGD was conducted to validate the findings

of the thematic analysis conducted in the study,

as indeed these are the most prominent issues

and elements in solo female travel. The majority

of respondents thought that traveling alone was

thrilling, but they were also scared and

apprehensive about seeing other countries. The

FGD results are consistent with theme 1, which

states that female travelers' confidence was

boosted and their visibility in society increased

as a result of traveling alone.

S ae  ea ecg f e.

There are numerous emotions, such as

when I was thinking about exploring a new

place on my own and meeting individuals

from other countries, which seemed

exciting, pleasant, and a little scary." (R11)

Virtual tourism and the use of technical aid

resources such as translators, navigation, and

weather forecasting help many women travel,

making it more convenient and motivating them

to go. The discussion reconfirms that technology

helped women overcome obstacles when

traveling alone.

"Google Translator can help you overcome

language barriers by instantaneously

translating conversations, signs, and

written content into familiar languages.

Additionally, maps, such as Google Maps,

provide navigation assistance, allowing

lone travelers to quickly explore unfamiliar

territory, find sites of interest, and plan

efficient itineraries." (R2, as accepted by

R7 and R10)



Soni, Gagandeep; Hussain, Sarah; Shekhar; Chandan, Rachna. Enlightening Tourism. A Pathmaking Journal,

Vol 14, No 1 (2024), pp. 23-50

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"As there was no internet available at

certain places, I downloaded the offline

maps and booked Airbnb in prior which

made my stay comfortable and Ferry

reservations helped me in booking the boat

and saved time from waiting in long

queues." (R1)

In theme 2, women's travel motivation,

breaking cultural identities, relaxation, wellness,

avoiding daily routines and tensions, and a sense

of strength and accomplishment were identified

as motivators. The findings of FGD corroborate

as most of the respondents stated they desired

independence and found their true potential as

the main motivators.

"For me, being independent means

learning more about myself and pushing

myself by being out of my comfort zone. I

may go alone again in the future simply to

fulfill my restlessness." (R3 and R8)

I hae aeed  a ace f he

unique specialties and to get myself a sense

of refreshment from my mundane life. I

experienced the fall season in New

Hampshire from the highest peak, Artist

Bluff Point of the Bald Mountains. I was

fascinated by the architectural buildings of

New York City; the Empire State Building

is the first 100-story building in the town.

The mesmerizing view of Brooklyn Bridge

ad he Sae f Lbe. (R1, ageed b

R6)

Confirming the findings, respondents also

pointed to personal reasons such as education,

immersing in diverse cultures, and shaping up

their unique specialties as strong motivators for

solo female travel.

The a ea f   ae

has been to pursue higher education and to

immerse myself in diverse cultures,

cae, ad eeece. (R2, ageed by

R9)

Regarding the challenges, women travelers

responded that navigating through unknown

countries is a problem they experience,

stemming from differences in culture and

language. As female travelers have to be more

cautious about their safety, they cannot indulge

in any fights with locals if they experience any

discomfort.

I ce aeed  a ceae c

governed by religious principles. I found

males gazing at us as we were wearing

bea dee. (R6 ad R10)

I  e cee hen I have to

explain things in my language. I once got

into a heated argument with a local

shopkeeper, as I thought he was making

obscene signs, whereas he was calling

some other local shopkeeper. Thankfully,

the police were nearby, and they

eeed. (R11)

The literature suggests that female travelers

often exhibit purchasing behavior that helps

local businesses. This consumerism by female

travelers often results in a positive economic

contribution to rural regions. Souvenirs include

collecting postage stamps and tickets, writing a

diary for remembrance, and buying fridge

magnets and other collectibles.

Bg e  f ad afg ,

as for me it was my first international solo

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Soni, Gagandeep; Hussain, Sarah; Shekhar; Chandan, Rachna. Enlightening Tourism. A Pathmaking Journal,

Vol 14, No 1 (2024), pp. 23-50

https://doi.org/10.33776/et.v14i1.8195

trip. We took pictures, wrote in a daily

diary, and collected things like tickets and

cad. (R1 ad R4)

Ye, I beee e a a a

part in preserving the memories of the trip.

Other than that, having pictures and videos

from the trip and small tokens from every

place visited can also help in preserving

ee. (R7 ad R8)

Several religions and countries are

conservative regarding female sexual pleasures.

Women born and brought up in these cultures

often have to resist their desires, and it is

considered taboo in their society. Such female

travelers often engage in sexual experiences to

explore themselves, better understand their

needs, and break away from patriarchal norms.

I a fe aaed b he ea feed

my friends had, just because they were

born in other countries. I had several

fantasies, but resisting them affected my

confidence. When I went to pursue higher

studies, I decided to travel to different

countries to be better aware of my physical

needs and satisfy my fantasies. I can say

that yes, I have become more confident

about myself and my appearance. (R1)

While the discussion was smooth on the other

questions, respondents were shy about reporting

their sexual experiences on solo travel as it is still

considered a private affair in several countries

and religions.

5. RESEARCH GAPS AND FUTURE

DIRECTIONS

The content analysis of the literature

uncovers a diverse array of themes and offers

valuable insights into the intricate dynamics of

the travel industry and the factors shaping

travelers' choices and experiences. However,

there still exist certain gaps in the literature that

need to be addressed to make women's travel

more convenient. These gaps are firstly

identified related to the methodologies adopted,

geographical concentration of authors, study

areas, and study design. Primarily, the gap lies in

the fact that the themes have not been thoroughly

and comprehensively researched. The second

gap lies in the similarity of the methodologies

adopted. The data was collected through semi-

structured interviews or quantitative interviews

to understand the aspects related to women's

travel. There is a need to adopt more statistical

or qualitative rigor, for instance, to better

determine the motives of woman's travel and

their impact on psychology and well-being. The

study also observed a lack of geographical

dispersion in the authors and case study regions.

Much of the literature is concentrated on a few

Asian, European, and Caribbean nations as hosts

of women travelers. Similarly, the literature is

focused more on taking Asian and Middle

Eastern women as samples. There needs to be

more diversity in the sample and study regions.

At last, there needs to be more cross-disciplinary

research on the theme. For instance, negligible

research exists on the operational issues in

women's travel, promotion and advertising for

women's travel, making women more

comfortable in taking such trips without being

negatively labeled or branded, image building

for destinations negatively branded for women's

travel, ethical and legal issues in

commercializing sexual behavior, the



Soni, Gagandeep; Hussain, Sarah; Shekhar; Chandan, Rachna. Enlightening Tourism. A Pathmaking Journal,

Vol 14, No 1 (2024), pp. 23-50

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psychological impact of mislabeling and

branding on local communities, and strategizing

woman travel to make it more convenient.

Another way to identify the gaps is to dig

deep into the identified research themes. Since

these themes are still being explored, therefore,

some topics need to be covered to make women's

travel more convenient. In the first theme of

women and solo travel, it is observed that limited

knowledge about destination and lack of social

support often act as hindrances for women in

older age. The lack of digital expertise among

these women further worsens the issue. There is

a possibility that such women can easily become

victims of cyber fraud and crimes. There should

be research on making solo women friendlier for

older age women who are not very tech-savvy.

Furthermore, digital transformation in travel and

its impact on women travelers, including the role

of social media, online communities, and digital

platforms have a great potential to be studied.

Challenges of solo travel need not be generalized

and cultural aspects should also be studied while

understanding these challenges. In the second

theme of travel motivation, the focus is limited

to understanding psychological and personal

motives as the only source of motives. Scholars

need to find out if other push or pull motivational

factors exist for such travels. For instance,

diasporic tourism by old age women who have

earlier visited such destinations with their lovers

can act as a strong motivation that needs to be

examined by future studies. Women travelers

often engage in purchasing souvenirs from these

destinations. Research could focus on the role of

souvenirs as a tool for destination recall and as a

medium for destination promotion. Future

studies could focus on identifying the factors

influencing purchase intention and promotional

campaigns could be tailored around these factors

to boost souvenir buying behavior. Women

travel for sexual behavior is risky as it exposes

women to possible crimes and impacts their

safety. Engaging in such activities also has a

psychological impact on women. Also, at

destinations, stakeholders often engage in

irresponsible and unethical practices that may

jeopardize women's travel satisfaction. Future

studies could look into ways to reduce the risks

associated with the women's travel industries

that do not compromise the economy of the

hosts. Scholars could also target developing

activities at such destinations. Lastly, future

research may also focus on sustainable travel

practices among women travelers and the

intersectionality of gender with other identities,

such as race, class, and sexuality, to enhance

inclusivity and diversity in travel research.

6. IMPLICATIONS

6.1) THEORETICAL

IMPLICATIONS

The study contributes to the growing body

of knowledge in relation to women and gender

studies. It identifies existing themes on women's

travels such as travel motivation and challenges

which would enhance the literature on

understanding aspects of women's behavior.

FGDs were conducted to validate the thematic

analysis conducted in the study. The identified

gaps in the existing literature aim to make

women's travel more convenient which could

further extend studies of women. The study

contributes to tourism literature by focusing on

women travelers as the subject, a gap that

persisted in the tourism literature. The study also



Soni, Gagandeep; Hussain, Sarah; Shekhar; Chandan, Rachna. Enlightening Tourism. A Pathmaking Journal,

Vol 14, No 1 (2024), pp. 23-50

https://doi.org/10.33776/et.v14i1.8195

identifies thematic gaps and the need for more

diverse and multi-disciplinary research in

women's travels. Extending the scope to

operations management, branding and

marketing, and strategic management will

further enrich the knowledge in these domains.

6.2) MANAGERIAL

IMPLICATIONS

The study also provides implications

for managers to make women's travel more

convenient and safer. Issues related to women's

safety are identified in the literature, with

physical threats and health risks being major

concerns. Tourism managers should focus on

making destinations safer for women. A rigorous

background check and monitoring of males

engaged in women's travel must be carried out.

Proper training and counseling should be given

to such male staff to avoid any misbehavior

incidents. Furthermore, promotional campaigns

must be launched to attract more women into

solo travel and remove any taboos surrounding

them. For instance, tie-ups could be arranged

with large organizations to send their female

employees to travel to reduce stress and anxiety

and get a break from routine life. Women-

friendly infrastructure must be developed at

destinations keeping in mind all age groups.

Destinations could have special assistance

booths at airports, railway stations, and other

public transport places. A separate phone

number for foreign women assistance in all

languages should be made available upon arrival

in the destination country. Similarly, female

travelers must be made aware of the cultural

aspects of destinations, which would further

reduce the chances of any unwanted accidents.

In continuation, stakeholders must be made

aware of the different cultures. It is to ensure that

when a woman visits these nations, stakeholders

are aware of the behavior in these cultures and

do not consider it as disrespect to theirs.

Technology misuse may be common at such

destinations which may jeopardize women's

safety back home. Their behavior at such

destinations may be hidden and not

commercialized without consent to the market.

There is also a need to develop more activities at

such destinations to enrich the tourist

experience. Managers must carry out continuous

monitoring of the health of male and female staff

at woman travel destinations as it could

negatively impact the health of woman travelers

engaging in sexual behaviors at such

destinations. Developing safe, inclusive, and

empowering travel experiences for women,

leveraging technology and community

engagement to enhance their travel experiences

is essential.

7. CONCLUSION AND LIMITATIONS

The study examined the advancement and

progress in research on women travelers by

analyzing publication trends and identifying

leading contributors in this field. It aimed to

learn about the number of authors collaborating

along with major thematic areas covered over the

years and investigate the factors of improving

women's travel experiences. Using bibliometric

indicators with descriptive analysis, science

mapping as BC, citation metrics, prestige

analysis, keyword co-occurrence metrics, and

network analysis (co-author and co-citation

analysis), the study employed computational

tools for big-data analytics. These analyses



Soni, Gagandeep; Hussain, Sarah; Shekhar; Chandan, Rachna. Enlightening Tourism. A Pathmaking Journal,

Vol 14, No 1 (2024), pp. 23-50

https://doi.org/10.33776/et.v14i1.8195

provided unbiased comprehension of the current

state of women's research. The study identified

research gaps related to study design,

methodologies adopted, and context for future

exploration. However, the study faces certain

limitations due to the scope of bibliometric

analysis, dataset completeness, and Scopus

database information. Extending the sample and

database scope could provide additional insights

for future studies.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We would like to express our sincere

gratitude to the reviewers for their invaluable

feedback and constructive comments on our

manuscript. Their insightful suggestions and

thorough evaluation have significantly

contributed to improving the quality and clarity

of our work. We deeply appreciate their time and

effort in reviewing our article.

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