"If there is even a three-day holiday, they start searching for flights"... Korean women rapidly emerge as big spenders in the global travel market

[The Financial News] Korean women travelers have rapidly emerged as a key consumer group in the global travel market.
On the occasion of International Women’s Day on the 11th, Trip.com Group released the results of a survey of 3,500 women in major markets including Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, Germany, Thailand, and Singapore, conducted between February and March 2026, along with an analysis of its own booking data.
According to the survey, among women who took at least one overseas trip in 2025, Korean women recorded the highest travel frequency of all countries surveyed. Their most popular overseas destinations last year were Osaka and Fukuoka in Japan, and trips to Chinese cities such as Shanghai and Qingdao also increased.
In particular, the number of flight bookings and searches made by Korean women in 2025 jumped 37% and 65% year-on-year, respectively.
“Solo travel” has also emerged as a new trend among women. The share of women traveling alone is rising across all age groups, with the increase especially pronounced among millennials aged 25 to 34.

This trend is clearly visible among Korean women as well. Korean women in that age group showed the highest proportion of solo trips.
Safety was the single most important factor when choosing a destination. Women travelers prioritized places where they could feel secure and tended to favor nearby destinations with good language accessibility. At the same time, the survey also found a strong latent desire to travel farther afield in search of different cultures and new experiences.
Women are not only leading solo trips but also taking the lead in planning family vacations. They typically oversee trips with parents or children, and indicated a clear willingness to pay more for family-friendly services and accommodations such as guaranteed adjacent seats on flights, all-inclusive packages, and connecting rooms.
y27k@fnnews.com Seo Yoon-kyung Reporter