The recent launch of Women Travel the World offers unique access to accommodation and tours which cater especially for women travellers. “Unique is a huge claim in the internet world”, says owner Rosemary Neave “everyone wants to imagine their site is unique. However I believe that the range and depth of information on our site truly warrants this description”

1. Google Maps has been used as a guide for the accommodation listings. Rosemary’s experience convinced her that a map based search system was necessary. Having worked with Jan Malone of Action Web Design on her Women Travel New Zealand site, she was a natural choice to design the World site. Jan relished the chance, and found that integrating Google Maps into the site was one of the most interesting things she has done since first developing websites 8 years ago.  This Google Map based search function enables you to see exactly where your accommodation choice is located and how it fits in with your itinerary.
2. The Tour Calendar facility enables tour operators to list their tours individually.  One traveller who has already used the site says “I was going to be in the south of France on a particular week, and also wanted to visit. I looked at the Tour Calendar and was able to see who had tours going at the time I wanted to go.  Consequently I booked into a French Bike and Barge Trip on the Canal du Midi with Bushwise Women, and a 12 day tour of Morocco with Venus Adventures, both of whom offer women only adventures.”
3. The site has a focus specifically on women. Whilst there are a growing number of sites for women travellers, and others for gay travellers, Rosemary believes that this site puts together travel options in a unique way.  There is that ‘unique’ word again, but we have not found anything else quite like this site.  Rosemary’s approach is collaborative – she is passionate about networking, “There is room for even more sites that focus on women travellers, and we gladly link to many of our so-called competitors, because networking is the engine of the World Wide Web.  You can not control how people use the web, but links help people find their way”.

Women Travel the World is offering free listings for the first year, and has prelisted many of the key women’s accommodation places across the world – from a B&B in Florence, to a women’s hotel in Berlin or a lodge in New Zealand.   Over 220 businesses are listed on the site, and already there are dozens of tours in the tour calendar – from Trekking for women in Nepal to Safari’s in Africa or culinary tours in Sardinia.

Next week Rosemary is off on a trip to the USA and Europe, planning to visit as many places as possible listed on the WTW site.  Her Women Travel the World Blog will document the stories and people she meets along the way, and hopefully create more links and pathways for women travellers along the way.

More information:

Who is the site for?

• Women travelling alone "Its great to have a place to stay where I feel safe as well as have some company to share travel stories with"
• Single women travellers "Joining a small women's tour group was fantastic - we had such fun and I tried some things I have never dared try before"
• Groups of women friends travelling together "Our bookclub takes off once a year and loves to stay together in a women's space",
• Lesbian travellers "It was so good to stay in places where we could relax and be ourselves".

More on the Origins of Women Travel the World

Rosemary developed Women Travel New Zealand in 2000, when she opened a Lodge in the north of New Zealand that catered especially for women travellers.  “The Lodge needed a way to target the women’s travel market directly, as we were almost invisible on generic websites or publications.”  So the idea of Women Travel New Zealand was born – a web portal that connected accommodation and tours especially for women travellers.

Some women were able to plan their entire itinerary using the Women Travel NZ site, and many of them said “We need a site like this for the world.”  Rosemary, bitten by the web bug, once again approached Jan Malone of Action Web to design a world site, and to develop a smart, custom-designed navigation system.

What is a little unusual is that all this has happened in Waipu, a small rural township on the coast of Northland New Zealand.  Both Rosemary and Jan had moved for lifestyle reasons to this area, and have since forged a working relationship which has involved several web projects. “Once broadband came to Waipu, we were off – we could work at home with a fabulous view of the coast, and drive 10 minutes to an empty beach to walk the dog – we had the best of all worlds”.  In Rosemary’s case she and her partner doubled as B&B hosts at their purpose built Waihoihoi Women’s Lodge.

More about Women Travellers

Marybeth Bond   - the Gutsy Traveller shares some statistics about Women Travellers. 

“Women -- young, old, single, married, and widowed are fueling an explosive growth in the travel industry.”

• 80% of all travel decisions are made by women
• 75% of those who take cultural,  adventure or nature trips are women.
• there has been a 230%, increase in number of women-only travel companies in past six years.

Links:

Women Travel the World

Women Travel New Zealand

Action Web Design

Waihoihoi Lodge

Marybeth Bond – the gutsy traveler

Rosemary’s Blog

For full size photos, click on the photos