The Solo Traveller
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Confidence and Safety
Theyyam is a popular ritual form of worship in the Malabar region, the northern part of Kerala, India. People consider Theyyam as a god, and they seek blessings from them. This shot is of ‘Aaralathu Bhagavati’, from my home in the cultural capital of Kasaragod, the northernmost district of Kerala. Bhagavati, is a word of Sanskrit origin, used in India as a polite form to address or as an honorific title for female deities in Hinduism. Photographer: Manyu Varma.
Kerala’s woman-friendly tourism initiative is a global model
By Emily Clarke in Sri Lanka and Josh Chandler in India
Briefly …
Kerala is emerging as a global model for women-friendly tourism, reshaping everything from policy to on-the-ground experiences so women can travel with confidence. Backed by gender audits, women-led enterprises, and international recognition, the Indian state is proving that safety by design is not just possible, it’s powerful.
India’s national safety landscape for women reveals a critical tension between perception and reality. While street lighting initiatives may illuminate roads at night, for many women the way home is still shrouded with fear. The latest National Annual Report and Index on Women’s Safety (NARI) 2025, released on Thursday, found that nearly 40% of women feel “not so safe” or “unsafe” in their own cities, especially after dark, on public transport, and in recreational spaces.
Safer cities were linked with better policing, civic participation, gender equity, and infrastructure, while weaker scores were tied to poor urban planning, patriarchal norms, and limited institutional responsiveness. While daylight provided reassurance, this confidence dropped drastically after dark.
Kerala, India. Photographer: Sreehari Devadas.
Against this backdrop, Kerala’s woman-friendly tourism initiative has been hailed as “a benchmark model for gender-inclusive and sustainable tourism” by Charmarie Maelge, a gender specialist for the United Nations Development Programme and a former Managing Director of Sri Lanka Tourism Bureau. “Kerala is setting an inclusive model by placing women at the heart of its tourism development strategy”. Charmarie, who has played a key role in promoting inclusive and sustainable tourism in Sri Lanka, noted that Kerala’s gender-inclusive tourism policy has also set a national model for India, and one that could be leveraged elsewhere.
“Kerala’s gender-inclusive tourism policy has also set a national model for India, and one that could be leveraged elsewhere.”
The initiative began in 2022 under the Women-Friendly Tourism Project and has since expanded statewide, drawing close to 18,000 women into roles as entrepreneurs, guides, homestay hosts and tour operators. Kerala’s successful responsible tourism initiatives like the Maravanthuruthu STREET (Sustainable, Tangible, Responsible, Experiential, Ethnic Tourism) Project have helped develop small, sustainable tourism hubs in rural areas, built around local culture, heritage, cuisine, and everyday life. The project aims to transform the village of Maravanthuruthu into a sustainable and vibrant tourism destination by cleaning water bodies to create a ‘Water Street’ for activities like kayaking and coracle (a traditional, small, round boat, manoeuvred with a single paddle) boating, and creating an ‘Art Street’ where public walls are painted by local artists.
Alleppey, Kerala. Photographer: Tim Broadbent.
Kerala Responsible Tourism Mission Society’s gender-inclusive approach ensures women are not only beneficiaries but active partners in tourism, noting that the state hosted the Global Women’s Conference on Gender Inclusive and Responsible Tourism in 2024 supported by UN Women, leading to the Kerala ‘Declaration of Gender Inclusive and Women Friendly Tourism’. The declaration underlined Kerala’s commitment to integrating gender equality in all aspects of tourism – from policy to practice – to empower tourism experiences for women as hosts and guests. The State has also completed gender and safety audits in a number of tourist locations, identifying infrastructure and behavioural improvements needed to make travel safer for host women and women travellers.
“The State has also completed gender and safety audits in a number of tourist locations, identifying infrastructure and behavioural improvements needed to make travel safer for host women and women travellers.”
Munnar, Kerala, India. Photographer: Arnold Roy.
To promote the continued participation and representation of women in the tourism sector, Kerala will host another international conference on women-friendly and gender inclusive tourism at the Munnar Hill Station from 30 November to 2 December 2025. The conference will showcase innovative ideas from around the world, and coordinate and network organisations and institutions that promote women-friendly tourism projects.
“Kerala is the first state to implement women-friendly tourism projects to ensure gender inclusiveness, women empowerment and safety,” said Minister for Tourism and Public Works, Shri PA Mohamed Riyas. “The trend of women travelling alone and in groups has increased significantly, and our initiative encourages this. [Empowering] women through tourism is the essence of this project,” said the Minister.
“The trend of women travelling alone and in groups has increased significantly, and our initiative encourages this. [Empowering] women through tourism is the essence of this project.”
Travellers’ voices suggest the model is working. A solo female traveller on Reddit wrote of her multiple Kerala visits “The localities were friendly and [the locals] reached out to us to help. No one tried to look at me uncomfortably as if I was some commodity … and this is how it should always be … on both my visits to Kerala I felt safe, secure and protected. May every woman that travels never feel the burden of uncertainty in terms of her own safety.”
Kerala also secured the top spot in the India Today Group’s comprehensive social study conducted across 20 states and two union territories of the country, based on four key themes civic awareness, public safety, gender attitudes, and diversity and discrimination. The achievement underlines Kerala’s leading position in social and civic progress in the country. The southern state, which secured the top spot in the overall index, showed “exemplary performance” in all four of these areas, indicating its balanced and friendly social fabric.
The results revealed a high civic consciousness among Keralites on public welfare and commitment when it comes to following social rules. The survey also says the state is taking a progressive stance on gender equality and social friendliness, while also noting that Kerala is setting new standards and becoming a model for other states in the country in terms of social progress.
Theyyam is an ancient ritualistic art form where performers wear elaborate costumes and face paint to embody deities. Photographer: Vineeth Vinod.
The takeaway? Kerala is not ignoring risk – it is restructuring tourism so that women feel safe by design. For solo women travellers, this translates into more women-led touchpoints (guides, accommodation, and transport/transit options) and an ecosystem that treats safety as a core value, not an afterthought, a marketing gimmick, or a promise that may never be kept.
Sources: The ‘Business Standard’ report on the latest National Annual Report and Index on Women’s Safety (NARI) 2025, and a solo female traveller on Reddit.
Emily Clarke is a passionate solo traveller and The Solo Traveller’s Tourism Collaborations Lead, and Josh Chandler is a writer based in Europe.