Travel companies failing to cater for women
Some 80 per cent of women travellers do not believe that travel companies take their needs into consideration, according to new research.
Market research company Research for Travel discovered that women travellers in the UK have little faith in tour operators.
The main area of concern surrounds security. Often women find they are given hotel rooms at the end of dark corridors and reception staff loudly announce their room numbers.
Car rental companies fair even worse in the research. Some 83 per cent of women had fears about their safety, citing their main grievances as having to pick up a car late at night and waiting for shuttle buses at poorly-lit car park lots.
Women also feel they receive little help at airports. Some 39 per cent said they wanted more assistance when carrying heavy luggage, a third of those surveyed thought that check-in staff should be more polite and 21 per cent felt the same about cabin staff.
Women are also increasingly taking charge of decision-making when it comes to buying holidays over the Internet. Tour operators have long felt that women make the final decision on family holidays booked through travel agents and this pattern is now being repeated over the web.
Some 48 per cent of travel website users are women compared to 38 per cent a year ago.
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