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Searches for solo female travel are on the rise, according to the Solo Female Travelers Club. Women want to see the world, and many of them aren’t waiting for a partner or friends to come along.
Tour operators are taking note. Intrepid and G Adventures now run their own women-only departures, and the market is getting crowded.
Kiwi operator Her Tribe Travels has something going for it – loyalty. It takes no more than 12 women on each trip, and 61 per cent of its confirmed bookings for 2027 are from women who have travelled with it before.
For founders Erin Mitchell and Nicola Alpe, that loyalty comes from a concept borrowed from a US baseball team that puts “fans first”.
“It clicked to me that was what Erin and I were trying to do with Her Tribe Travels, and so hence Ladies First was born,” Nicola says. “At the heart of it, everything we do is with the women in our community top of mind first and foremost, and that flows both ways.”
Who’s booking
“Our typical traveller is a woman aged 40+ who is looking to explore the world. She values connection with the people she is with and the places she visits,” Nicola says.
More of those women are now happy to let someone else take charge.
“Some of our travellers merely show up in the morning at the designated time not completely sure what they are doing for the day, just trusting that we’ve built a day that will leave them feeling fulfilled, energised, and having satisfied any curiosity they may have about a destination.”
Erin says demand is coming from women who no longer want to wait.
“A lot of women are ready to act and don’t want to wait for other people in their lives to reach the point where they are, so they are taking action,” she says.
That shapes how every new tour is planned.
“We know that just as every woman is unique, what they want from their lives and their travel experiences is unique, so as soon as we have a flicker of an idea, we immediately think of the women in our community,” Nicola says.
Standing out
Against larger competitors, Erin says the difference comes down to focus.
“Being a niche women’s only tour operator means women are at the very core of everything we do,” she says.
The founders host most tours themselves.
“Both myself and Nicola travel as tour hosts for the majority of tours so that relationship and trust continue to evolve whilst we are away on tour.”
Erin hosts the company’s Cook Islands trips herself and expects founder-hosted tours to stay as the business grows.
“As we grow it will be increasingly more difficult for myself and Nicola to host every tour so we will definitely look to continue with a founder-hosted trip or two each year.”
Growth
Direct bookings and referrals have driven growth so far, but Erin says that won’t be enough.
“With the emerging prevalence of using AI for researching travel, it’s increasingly important that we use PR services to get our messaging out to a broader audience.”
Running the business from New Zealand has its own pressures.
“Being at the bottom of the world means more flights and more travel time which creates friction in itself, but when married with a weak exchange rate we sometimes feel like we are paddling against the proverbial,” Nicola says.
Staying small helps. The 2027 Collection has only ten tours.
“We aren’t catering to the masses that’s for sure and being niche means we can really focus in on thoughtfully curated tours, with some beautiful bespoke experiences included along the way,” Nicola says.
“Perhaps the inherent disadvantages we have with being so far away from the world and the seemingly perpetually weak exchange rate means we work even harder to deliver value and itineraries that are beyond expectation.”
As for the future, the pair want Her Tribe Travels to be more than a tour company.
“We would love to see Her Tribe Travels with a following that makes all women involved feel like they are part of something larger than their everyday life. We’d love the community to be such that a member of our Tribe might even be travelling independently in the world but have people in that location they can meet for a coffee or cocktail and have an immediate connection with.” Erin and Nicola say.
