Solo female travelers: a systematic literature review and future research agenda

Abstract

Purpose Solo travel is one of the fastest-growing tourism segments, especially among women. This study aims to identify which research topics of interest are more evident in solo female travelers (SFTs) and provide future researchers directions to explore some other research areas in SFTs. Design/methodology/approach Adopting the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses, the searched keywords included “female travel*” OR “women travel*” AND solo, extracted from Web of Science, Scopus, Emerald and ProQuest databases conducted in English. Findings Out of the 163 initial records, 25 papers were included. The reviews revealed four research topics that are more evident in SFT studies, namely, push and pull factors, perceived risks and travel constraints, risk management and negotiation strategy and travel experience. More work is required on SFTs beyond the existing research streams. Research limitations/implications The papers selected for this study were chosen based on the review’s selection criteria and might omit other SFT studies. Originality/value This paper contributes to uncovering the literature on SFTs to date.