\u201cThe reason older women travel alone and feel safe is because we\u2019re invisible,\u201d Sally Loane, Chairman and Non-Executive Director of Destination NSW, joked, prompting nods from the audience at Virtuoso\u2019s Sydney Luxe Report event yesterday.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n But if Virtuoso\u2019s latest luxury travel data is anything to go by, female travellers are becoming increasingly difficult for the industry to overlook.<\/p>\n Women-only solo travel has entered Virtuoso\u2019s top five solo travel experiences for the first time, cited by 32 per cent of advisors, while health and wellness has jumped four places to become the No. 1 experience for solo travellers in 2027.<\/p>\n The findings were unveiled as part of Virtuoso\u2019s 2027 Australia and New Zealand Luxe Report at Bennelong restaurant in the Sydney Opera House.<\/p>\n Following the report\u2019s release, Loane joined Penny Spencer, founder and managing director of Spencer Travel; Melinda O\u2019Rourke, general manager of Birkenhead Group; and Misty Belles, vice president, Global Public Relations at Virtuoso, for a panel moderated by Naomi Parry.<\/p>\n Spencer said demand at the top end of the market was increasingly being driven by travellers seeking extraordinary, once-in-a-lifetime experiences \u2013 and being prepared to spend to make them happen.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re seeing people spending way more money,\u201d Spencer said, pointing to one client who wanted to travel to Egypt and arrange a private meditation experience in Tutankhamun\u2019s tomb.<\/p>\n \u201cWe had to go to government to get that done, but we did it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Spencer said clients increasingly want something different from luxury travel \u2013 particularly experiences they can share with their families and walk away from feeling they have done something truly special.<\/p>\n That desire is also flowing into multigenerational travel, which has overtaken expedition cruising to become Virtuoso\u2019s biggest travel trend for 2027.<\/p>\n And according to Spencer, it is often the grandparents both organising and footing the bill.<\/p>\n She pointed to one client who takes 38 members of his family away every two years to a destination they love. He has even made provisions in his will for the tradition to continue after his death, with money set aside to pay for the trips.<\/p>\n \u201cIt goes beyond the grave,\u201d Spencer joked.<\/p>\n The conversation then turned to the considerable spending power of older Australians.<\/p>\n Loane said Australia\u2019s baby boomer generation is reaching a stage where many have both the money and health to travel extensively.<\/p>\n \u201cThe boomer generation was hitting its straps, and most boomers are now fitter and healthier, I think, than our parents, which is great,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n She pointed particularly to Australia\u2019s compulsory superannuation system, telling the audience the country\u2019s pool of superannuation funds under management sits at around $4.3 trillion, with boomers now beginning to draw down on their retirement savings.<\/p>\n Loane also identified several other sources of wealth among older Australians, from mining and agriculture to financial services, alongside a cohort benefiting from defined-benefit superannuation schemes.<\/p>\n It was in this wider discussion of the financial freedom enjoyed by some older Australians that Loane made her quip about women becoming \u201cinvisible\u201d.<\/p>\n Yet when it comes to travel, Virtuoso\u2019s figures suggest the opposite.<\/p>\n Health and wellness has climbed four places to become Virtuoso\u2019s No. 1 solo travel experience for 2027, followed by guided tours, expedition cruising and adventure travel or trekking. Australia has also entered Virtuoso\u2019s top 10 destinations for solo travellers for the first time, while New Zealand ranks seventh.<\/p>\n There is evidence beyond Virtuoso that the Australian female solo market is growing. Research released by Reflections Holidays in August, based on a survey of 1,000 Australian women aged 18 to 75, found 72 per cent sought relaxation and a break from routine from solo travel, while 74 per cent identified safety and security as a key consideration. The company also reported a 21 per cent increase in solo female guests at its NSW holiday parks over the previous year.<\/p>\n The type of luxury these travellers are looking for may also be changing.<\/p>\n O\u2019Rourke offered the example of a female friend who has returned to the same luxury wellness retreat in India five times in seven years.<\/p>\n The attraction wasn\u2019t traditional conspicuous luxury, she explained, but trust, cultural immersion, connection with nature and having the space to properly switch off.<\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s a luxury customer, but she doesn\u2019t want the glitz and the gold,\u201d O\u2019Rourke said. \u201cShe wants something really important.\u201d<\/p>\n That desire reflects a wider shift identified in Virtuoso\u2019s report. The growing opportunities around these travellers come against a resilient backdrop for luxury travel more broadly.<\/p>\n Some 57 per cent of Virtuoso advisors surveyed expect leisure travel demand to increase slightly in 2027, while another 19 per cent expect a significant increase. Meanwhile, 70 per cent expect spending per trip to rise.<\/p>\n Belles told the panel demand and spend were up across Virtuoso\u2019s regions, with travellers continuing to prioritise travel despite wider economic and geopolitical pressures.<\/p>\n \u201cLuxury travel just behaves differently than maybe mass market travel,\u201d Belles said. \u201cWe\u2019re insulated.\u201d<\/p>\n Virtuoso itself says one in four Australian luxury travellers has used an advisor in the past year, while the network now counts more than 1,600 advisors across Australia and New Zealand.<\/p>\n For advisors, the opportunity around female travellers therefore extends well beyond simply selling more solo holidays.<\/p>\n Virtuoso\u2019s findings point towards travellers with the independence to travel on their own terms and an appetite for wellness, adventure, cultural immersion and experiences that feel genuinely meaningful.<\/p>\n They might joke about being \u201cinvisible\u201d, but the travel industry would be foolish not to see them.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n kabarsula SLOT <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cThe reason older women travel alone and feel safe is because we\u2019re invisible,\u201d Sally Loane,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2354,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2353","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-kabarsula"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2353","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2353"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2353\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2354"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"The](\"https:\/\/travelweekly.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/IMG_4664-1-scaled.jpeg\"\/)
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Luxury travellers want the extraordinary<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/travelweekly.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Giza-pyramids.jpg\")
Boomers have money \u2013 and they\u2019re spending it<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Women-only solo travel enters the top five<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Women-only solo travel makes its debut at No. 5, cited by almost a third of advisors.<\/p>\n![\"Greece\"](\"https:\/\/travelweekly.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/iStock-1161906433.jpg\"\/)
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Luxury doesn\u2019t have to mean \u2018glitz and gold\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Cultural immersion and authenticity rank as the third and fourth biggest travel trends for 2027, while health and wellness is among the top five motivations for taking a trip.<\/p>\nLuxury remains insulated<\/strong><\/h2>\n