Are we prejudiced against men? Absolutely not. A great many of our trips are for both men and women. But, if your trips are like mine, you may have noticed that a large percentage of the participants tend to be women sometimes traveling with a spouse or partner, sometimes traveling alone. If that is the case, why not designate one of your trips each year as a Ladies Only departure? I do just that. Design it around women interests and market it solely to the female of the species.
If you are going to try this, you need to know what women are looking for in a trip just for them. I find a multitude of reasons women are drawn to such trips some obvious, some subliminal. The first is safety-the feeling that there is safety in numbers, that the trip will be fully escorted, and that they will feel comfortable in certain social situations. For example, many women may not like going into a bar by themselves, but with a group may enjoy meeting for an after-dinner nightcap with the other members.
If recently widowed or divorced, they will not feel that they are competing for male attention. There is also the factor that they can tell their husband that they are going with other ladies only, which often softens the blow to a man ego if his woman wants to go it alone without him.
Another reason is that women are often more interested in features in different areas or countries that are important to families or that men do not wish to explore. This would include social issues such as children, schools, education, marriage, divorce, and relationships. Women are also interested in fashion, clothing and shopping for gifts for family and friends (and for themselves). Cuisine and cooking are often of great interest. I have had good luck taking groups to food markets, to cooking classes and meetings with known chefs.
The arts also are attractive to many women. They enjoy going to the theatre, dancing, seeing the symphony, and visiting art museums-often more frequently than the men in their lives are willing to attend.
