Five Tips for Selling Women-Only Travel

By Steve Crowhurst, CTC

Here’s the thing. The majority of travel agents just happen to be women yet very few have created a niche in the specialty market of women-only travel. Men can of course sell women-only travel and I was one of those back in the day with my very own division called Woman’s World Travel. The fact remains however that it takes a well-travelled woman to truly know what a sister traveler needs on the road, on the cruise, on the tour and overall when travelling alone.

In 2012 United States statistics estimated that there were 23,174,000 women aged 65 years and over.

To focus on an age bracket of 60+ means you are gaining access to women who for the most part are free of kids, mortgages and either retired or retiring.

There are many more millions of women in the under 60 age bracket. The median age for women as of 2012 was estimated at 38.5 years.

What all this means is that you have a huge opportunity to attract and serve the younger woman and the older retired woman as long as you know what they are looking for when it comes to each of them travelling on their own and with other women.

1. Women Don’t Do Pink. This is a mistake made by most male travel agents. Using pink as a color scheme to attract women who want to climb the Matterhorn for instance or go fly fishing in Alaska or tour India isn’t going to cut it. Of course the color pink can be used when it ties into breast cancer related events and one of your women-only tours could do just that, but in general, leave pink alone. The color of choice by men and women and boys and girls as surveyed by Crayola USA was dark blue. Take it from there.

2. Safety First is Number One. Recent surveys have shown personal safety to be the number one reason that so many women do not venture out on their own or with a group. The daily news as you know is now nothing more than a head count of who has died, been killed, or murdered around the world and that has a lasting effect on all people. What to do? The first thing you can do is make yourself aware of various SOS apps for your client’s smartphones and try them out yourself.

The best SOS apps cost money and will at a tap of the screen launch a rescue team of first responders based on the phones location and GPS. There are still very noisy personal alarms that are great for when someone is hassled in a market for instance and finally you can arrange a self-defense class with your local martial art school. Marketing these facts will also attract more women who were not confident to step out on their own. Having a group of empowered and more confident women travelers on your group will make all things a little easier.

3. More Than Shopping. Your women-only offerings can stretch from Archeology to Zoology and the 250 odd activities in between. Yes it has been recorded that women love to shop. Okay, job done – put that tour together. Next, ask your female clients what they would like to do, have always wanted to do, or what their dream trip is? You can generate a survey and email it out, or use the free SurveyMonkey service, or if you’re old school make the phone call.

Gather the information and then you’re dealing with first hand data that’s relevant to your agency. You might be surprised to find that some of your female clients are expert at fly fishing or hiking. Others may want to gather round an open fire and sing songs, talk about women’s issues or attend a conference.

4. Build on Your Own Passions. As a female travel agent what’s your passion for travelling the world? Do you have a special place you’d like to share? A sport, a skill? What do you do and do well that could be marketed as a women-only tour led by you? Should we head off to Europe to view ancient places, stargaze from atop Haleakala, hike a route of pilgrimage, search for ancestors, or dive for wrecks? What is it that you have within you that could become your niche trip for women-only?

5. Start Your Own Women-Only Network. At some point you’ll need to go social and that means using Facebook or, you could create your own social network using socialgo.com. Facebook can work or you can create a brand new website that targets the female traveler and give them a place to gather or share information they pick up on their travels.

As you well know, there are women out there who are very well travelled, met all the challenges, lived to tell the tales and these women could become your advisory board should you ask them. Now, with that qualified been-there-done-that team of women supporting your efforts you can use this as a marketing theme to attract more female clients to do business with you.

That’s it. Keep it real. Make sure you have done what you intend to sell. Be open to women of all ages, colours, races, creeds and lifestyles and you’ll be on your way as soon as you complete that initial survey. Ask for age, interests, where travelled, next dream trip, special needs, leave a space for free flow comments and you’re done.

Steve has 20 Books on Earning more money as a travel agent. AARC Agents get a 20% discount.
http://www.thetravelagentsstore.com/

Learn how to become a home based travel agent and open your own online travel agency. www.HomeBasedTravelAgents.ORG