Solo female travellers’ memorable experiences: positive encounters with male strangers

ABSTRACT

Solo female travel has been on the rise globally, which has drawn attention from the academics. However, no research has specifically centred on the social world of solo female travellers in either Western or Asian inquiries. The study is set on Asian solo female travel, in this case the Taiwanese women, with a view to unveiling their memorable experiences with male strangers on the cross-cultural adventures. A total of 19 Taiwanese participants were enlisted, and the qualitative study results present their positive encounters with male strangers on a continuum. Four types of situations denoting their relationships were further discussed: Tidbits of Travel, Acts of Kindness, Company and Friendship, and Affective Relationships. The research contributes to tourism scholarship by demonstrating the pluralities of their gender relationships with stranger males, which is in due response to the dearth of research in this area.

女性獨旅者的難忘體驗：與陌生男性的正向互動摘要

近年來女性獨自旅行的風氣在全球各地盛行，然而探討女性獨旅社交動態的文獻明顯不足。本研究以19位台灣獨旅女性為研究對象，透過半結構性深度訪談，探究她們的社交動態，並特別就她們與陌生男性間的難忘體驗為主軸，來了解陌生男女在觀光場域上所衍生出的多元性別關係及其影響與意涵。本研究共歸納出四種正向互動的情境：旅遊點滴、善意行為、友誼相伴，與情感牽連。研究結果增補相關學術領域的論述缺口，同時也豐富對亞洲女性休閒旅遊行為的理解。

KEYWORDS:

• solo female travel
• memorable tourism experiences
• stranger kindness
• romance tourism

關鍵字:

• 女性獨自旅行
• 難忘觀光體驗
• 陌生人善行
• 浪漫觀光

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).