How Women Over 50 Are Driving Billions in Travel Spending and Reshaping the Industry

by Mia Taylor
Last updated: 6:15 PM ET, Tue May 6, 2025

For years, millennials have been the demographic that advertisers and brands have been salivating over – including within the travel industry.

And for good reason. They constitute the largest generation in the workforce, and in 2025, millennials are set to splash a staggering $268 billion on travel.

Not far behind, however (and often overlooked by travel companies and brands in ways big and small), is another incredibly lucrative demographic: Women who are 50-plus.

Travelers in this age group are a force to be reckoned with in their own right. And the spending statistics supporting this reality are equally staggering.

According to a new report titled Invisible No More: The Ageless Adventuress, published by JourneyWoman and sponsored by Colette Travel, Intrepid Travel and Aurora Expeditions, the economic power of this market is a multi-billion dollar gold mine. In particular, the report notes:

In North America, 41 percent of women travelers are 55-plus and represent a $245 billion travel market.

In the U.S. alone, 40 percent of women travelers are 55-plus, and their spending power amounts to $214 billion.

Travel spending by women 50-plus is set to more than double to $519 billion by 2035.

While the tourism industry focuses heavily on reaching the hearts, minds (and wallets) of Millennials, says JourneyWoman's report, it is simultaneously ignoring – or at the very least failing to fully acknowledge and reach – Baby Boomers and Gen X, particularly women travelers who are 50-plus.

"Knowing the size and economic power of this market in North America, why aren't more travel companies prioritizing the older, active, solo traveller?" Carolyn Ray, CEO of JourneyWoman, questions during an interview with TravelPulse.

"Many travel companies and destination websites lack relevant brand messaging, don't have imagery of older solo women, or navigation that includes solo and older women," Ray adds. "The root of this problem is that the travel industry doesn't fully understand this market."

Ray and others maintain that lack of understanding is a costly mistake for the travel industry. Because it is women in the 50-plus age range who are driving many of the trends currently transforming and dominating the market. They are the leading forces behind such trends as cultural immersion, off-season travel, longer stays, exploring less-traveled places, and slow travel.

Yet, JourneyWoman's new research found that 45 percent of women who are 50-plus say the industry could do a better job at understanding older female travelers.

"It's one thing to say that women 50-plus matter," continues Ray. "But it's quite another to show that through actions."

Fully Recognizing The 50-Plus Female Traveler

There's a tremendous growth opportunity for the travel industry in fully recognizing the needs of women who are 50-plus.

Compared to other markets with far more visibility, for instance, the spending power of the 50-plus female traveler exceeds all of them.

Black travelers in the U.S. spent about $145 billion on travel in 2023, while the international LGBTQ+ travel market is valued at more than $200 billion annually, and the latest data on U.S.-based Hispanic travelers shows they will contribute about $165 billion to the U.S. economy in 2025.

While these figures are impressive in their own right, they lag behind the $214 billion in spending for 50-plus women travelers in the U.S. and the $245 billion that this same demographic represents for North America – not to mention the $519 billion in projected spending by women 50-plus for 2035.

The takeaway is that 50-plus women represent a rising movement of consumers in their prime who are eager to travel. Moreover, these women see travel not merely as a 'nice to have,' but a 'must-have' that's an essential part of their lifestyle.

"I think the number one most important thing to understand about this moment in history that we are in, is that 50 years ago, it would be frowned upon if women traveled alone. You usually had to have a companion or husband or somebody to look after you," says Doni Belau, founder of Girls Guide to the World, a company offering small group, women-only trips since 2019.

Now, plenty of women earn lucrative incomes and have power and freedom. It's an inflection point that Belau has watched unfold first-hand.

Sixteen years ago when she started Girls Guide to the World, it was not usual for married women interested in her trips to say, "Oh gosh, I have to ask my partner." But Belau says she hasn't heard that kind of comment in a string of years. Her business is booming, and women traveling alone have become more and more acceptable.

And for the women who are busy exploring the world solo, it's a way of life that they're passionate about.

"After the pandemic, a lot of us woke up to the fact that 'Yes we are mortal. And this is not going to last forever,' " says Belau. "We have people booking two and three trips. Because I think many of them realize that once you hit 50, how many years do you have left?"

Designing trips for the 50-plus female traveler

Despite all the progress women have made, particularly those in the 50-plus age group, the travel industry continues to lag behind.

Stereotypes about who travels and how, remain in place. Particularly within cruising and elite train travel, says Belau. She's referring to the continued persistence of requiring solo travelers to pay a single supplement fee when booking a cruise vacation or luxury train getaway.

That's a steep penalty for a woman to pay to explore the world without a partner. Some cruise lines, for instance, may charge as much as an additional 50 percent to 100 percent of a full fare. That means if a cruise fare for one is $5,000, then a solo female traveler must pay an extra $2500 to $5,000.

When planning itineraries for her women-only travel company, Belau has consciously chosen not to charge this type of fee. But even she bumped up against the single supplement penalty recently when putting together a cruise to Antarctica for Girls Guide to the World.

As part of that effort, Belau tried to find a cruise line that would not charge a single supplement for her group of women travelers, a goal that proved impossible. "We called four luxury lines to get a single room without a supplement, it was the hardest thing to get ever," she recalls.

Land journeys also fall prey to old ways of thinking and stereotypes with regard to women traveling alone. "Depending on which country you are talking about, there still is this sense that women don't and can't travel alone," adds Belau.

That's a huge oversight. Among the 55-plus women's travel segment, 23.1 million (61 percent) are solo travelers. Furthermore, traveling without a partner is their preferred way of exploring the world (up from 50 percent in 2020), according to the JourneyWoman study.

The single supplement is merely one example of the ways the travel industry has failed to truly understand the 50-plus female traveler. Belau and Ray say this demographic also has a unique approach to exploring the world that needs to be recognized and more fully embraced.

"Women want to know how women in other countries are living," Belau continues. "They don't travel to just check off the 10 most popular places. We are really trying to understand a place, and its culture and also get to know how women there are living."

Ultimately, Ray says she'd like to see more product offerings designed for women, along with more affordable pricing for solo women - both on trips and for longer stays. She also hopes to see more destinations focusing on solo women as a growth market.

To that end, JourneyWoman has begun collaborating with companies like Aurora Expeditions to design women-only trips that go beyond the destination, thinking about the entire experience end to end. Ray and her company are also helping destinations understand how to encourage longer stays among solo women over 50, starting with researching their needs first.

"These shifts require an understanding that building a relationship with older women is different. We are seeking a welcoming, long-term relationship, not a transactional one," explains Ray.

But the payoff will be extremely valuable for companies and destinations that rise to the occasion.

"Women are loyal and openly share recommendations through word of mouth," she says, adding: "With women 50+, there's an opportunity for them to become advocates and ambassadors for your company or destination. Loyalty and retention drives future revenue; so if you're not seeing return customers it's time to revisit your overall experience."

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