More women are travelling solo than ever before and they’re choosing luxury. Here’s what the data says, and why South Africa belongs on your list.
There’s a particular kind of quiet that settles over you when you realise you’ve stopped waiting.
Stopped waiting for the right travel companion, the right year, the right version of your life that makes the trip feel earned. At some point (and it happens differently for every woman) you stop explaining why you want to go somewhere and start simply going.
That shift is happening everywhere, all at once. And the numbers are beginning to catch up with what women already know about themselves.
The Statistics That Should Surprise No One
The Solo Traveller World Survey (2024) found that 72% of solo travellers worldwide are women. Not a niche. Not a growing trend that might correct itself. The clear majority of people who choose to explore the world independently, on their own terms, are women.
And yet, for decades, the travel industry designed its experiences around couples, families, and men on business trips. The default solo traveller in every brochure was male. The default couple in every honeymoon package was heterosexual. The default family in every resort ad had two parents and two kids under twelve. Everyone else was an afterthought — including the majority.
That’s changing.
According to American Express Travel and Forbes (2023), 80% of all travel decisions are made by women. Luxury travel network Virtuoso reports that bookings for female solo travellers have increased by 87% in the past two years alone. A Booking.com survey found that 65% of women name safety as their primary consideration when travelling solo — not cost, not distance, not convenience. Safety.
That last statistic is the one the travel industry needs to sit with. Not because women are afraid — most of the women who book with Wine & Wild are some of the most capable, well-travelled, decisive people we’ve ever met. But because the industry has, historically, failed to design for them. And women have noticed.
What Solo Female Travellers Actually Want
When you read between the lines of the data, what emerges isn’t a list of anxieties. It’s a remarkably clear set of desires.
They want to feel genuinely safe — not reassured, not managed, not handed a list of things to avoid. Actually, logistically, completely safe. The kind of safe where you don’t spend mental energy calculating your route home after dinner, or wondering whether the person at the door of your lodge is supposed to be there.
They want experiences worth the cost — solo travel is often more expensive per person than travelling as a couple. Women making that investment want to know it counts. They want quality: in the accommodation, the food, the guiding, the small things that signal someone thought carefully about their arrival.
They want connection — this is perhaps the most misunderstood part. Solo female travellers are not, by definition, people who want to be alone. Many of them want to travel without compromise — to choose the destination, the pace, the level of activity — while also sharing those experiences with people worth sharing them with. That combination of independence and community is not a contradiction. It’s actually the whole point.
At Wine & Wild, we built our entire model around this.
Why South Africa, and Why Now
South Africa sits at an interesting intersection for the solo female traveller. It is one of the most extraordinary destinations on earth — the kind of place that recalibrates your sense of scale, beauty, and wonder in ways that are difficult to articulate to anyone who hasn’t been. The Winelands of the Western Cape produce wines that hold their own against anything from Burgundy or Tuscany. Kruger National Park is the Africa of your imagination, except more: more space, more silence, more presence.
And yet South Africa has historically been underrepresented in the solo female travel conversation.
We think that’s a gap worth closing.
What the Wine & Wild model is built on is this: every detail is handled before your flight lands. South Africa has it’s complexities. It is not a country that asks you to look the other way. What it does reward, however, is thoughtful planning and expert guidance. When everything from your airport transfer to your lodge choice to your game drive operator has been selected by someone who has spent a lifetime living in and learning about this country, the experience transforms entirely. You stop managing and start arriving.
That’s what the Wine & Wild model is built on. Every detail is handled before your flight lands. Your group is entirely women. Your guides know the roads, the lodges, the vineyards, and the constellations above the bush veld. When you step off the plane, your only job is to be present.
What a Wine & Wild Tour Actually Looks Like
The Wine & Wild tour is designed around the duality in our name — two experiences that feel like opposite ends of a spectrum and somehow complete each other.
The Wine half takes place in the Cape Winelands: Stellenbosch, Franschhoek, and the surrounding estates. You’re staying in boutique 4 and 5-star hotels with genuine character — the kind of places with private courtyards and morning light that makes you want to linger over breakfast. You’re tasting wines with the people who made them. You’re eating long, unhurried lunches at tables in the vines. The pace is slow because it’s supposed to be. There is nowhere else you need to be.
The Wild half takes you to Kruger and the private reserves that border it. You’re staying in safari lodges where the animal sounds drift through at night and the pre-dawn game drives go out before the sun is fully up. You will see things you won’t have the language for yet — a graceful giraffe bending to drink at a waterhole, an elephant crossing the road with the calm authority of something that has never been afraid of anything. Your guide knows exactly where to look and exactly when to be quiet.
These two experiences, together, in a single trip, with a group of women who were strangers at the beginning and aren’t by the end: that’s Wine & Wild.
Who Travels With Us
Our guests come from the UK, Australia, USA, Europe and Hong Kong. Some are empty nesters who’ve spent twenty years prioritising everyone else’s travel wishes and are now, finally, choosing their own. Some are newly single women who’ve realised that waiting for the right travel companion is an excellent way to never go anywhere. Some are simply women who’ve been promising themselves South Africa for years and have decided that this is the year.
They range in age from their late thirties to their mid-seventies. They’re curious, warm, well-read, and better at conversation than most people you’ll meet. Most of them arrive not knowing a single person on the tour. Almost none of them leave that way.
The Market Has Changed. The Question Is Whether the Industry Will.
Solo female travel is not a niche. It’s not a trend. It’s the shape the market has already taken — it’s just taking the industry a while to catch up.
The women choosing to travel this way are not doing so because they couldn’t find a companion or because they compromised. They’re doing it because they’ve realised that independence and adventure and extraordinary company are not mutually exclusive. That you can have all three at once. That you don’t have to wait.
If you’re a woman reading this with South Africa somewhere in the back of your mind — the place you’ve thought about but haven’t yet given yourself permission to actually plan — this is your sign.
We’d love to take you there.
Book a Free Discovery Call
Have questions? So did every woman who’s ever travelled with us. We answer every enquiry personally — no automated responses, no sales scripts. Just a genuine conversation about where you want to go and whether Wine & Wild is the right fit.
Book your free 20-minute discovery call →
Or explore our October 2026 tour to see exactly what’s included.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is South Africa safe for solo female travellers?
South Africa requires thoughtful planning — and that’s exactly what we do on your behalf. From your airport transfer to your lodge selection to your guiding team, every element of a Wine & Wild tour is chosen with your safety and comfort in mind. Your group is entirely women, and your guides are experienced, vetted, and excellent company.
Do I need to know anyone on the tour before I join?
No — most guests don’t. The majority of women who travel with Wine & Wild arrive as solo travellers. The group format means you have company from day one, and the women-only environment creates a particular kind of ease and openness that mixed-group travel rarely achieves.
What’s the best time of year to visit Kruger?
The dry season (May to September) is generally considered the best time for game viewing. Animals gather around water holes and the vegetation is less dense, making sightings easier.
What’s included in a Wine & Wild tour?
All accommodation, meals, guided experiences, internal transfers, and game drives are included. You arrive; we handle the rest. Full inclusions are listed on our tour page.
Do I need to be physically fit to join?
Game drives are done in vehicles — no significant walking is required. The Cape Town tour involves some light exploring on foot, but the pace is always comfortable and the itinerary is designed to balance activity with rest.
Can I extend my trip before or after the tour?
Yes — many guests choose to add extra nights in Cape Town, Johannesburg or Greater Kruger. We’re happy to advise on the best options and connect you with trusted partners for independent extensions.
Wine & Wild is a women-only luxury tour operator specialising in South Africa. We run small-group tours combining the Cape Winelands and Kruger National Park, designed for solo female travellers who want the experience fully handled and the company genuinely worth having. Learn more at wineandwild.co.za.