This Week's Links The Last Word
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What
Do Women Want?
back to TTN home page by Joe Harkins (featured on Oxygen cable television - Feb 11, 2000)
I don't envy women who travel alone. I'm referring to issues that range
from hassle-free travel to hair dryers in hotel rooms and restaurants where a solo woman
feels welcome. What I found, and didn't find, in the way of online resources would bring
out the Susan B. Anthony in anyone. Although my incoming email-box probably is going to regret my candor, I have to say the situation is women's own fault. The number of online travel services for women are so rare because they either lack support from the audience they are intended to serve or at the very least, those who would provide the service seem to think that. Fortunately, except for a few web design issues that are too common on the Internet, the viable "women travelers" sites that I found are well done. One of the more entertaining is Rough Guide's Women Travel.
It contains superb writing, typical of all their guide books. By the way, my computer's misogynistic spell-checker
wants JourneyWoman to be "journeyman". (Bad boy; bad. Be
quiet before you get me in trouble.) The Satchel
Pages, a newsletter for women over 40, offers an optional directory which allows a
degree of anonymity for women who seek travel partners. Women's Wire
Travel Section includes pages of sound advice on practical issues. -30- The Last Word Shortly after the above column was published, additional online resources, shown below, came to my attention. (OK? Enough??? It's fixed, right?? But how could I have kno . . .??? All right. It won't happen again. Now, can I have the remote back? And would you pleeeeaase get from out in front of the tube? It's 11 and goal to go. Thanks. And sweetie; while you're heading that direction, would you get me an icy-cold from the the freezer? Honey? Yo, Darlin'? What 'n hell's 'smatter with her, now?) Africa Desk The Sears mail order catalog used to be known as "The Wish Book." This site might be called The Safari Wishbook with rich photos of animals visited and places seen, none of which may be around anymore by the time your grand-daughter wants to go. The owner of Africa desk is one of the savviest (and co-incidentally, one of the most intelligent and attractive) women I've ever met in the travel business. Postcards This is a sister-site to Africa Desk. The destination names of the four currently featured, women-only tours are as enticing as a half-pound box of double-chocolate walnut fudge; Botswana, Machu Pichu, Namibia and Malagasy. Women's Travel Issues These are the papers presented in Baltimore, MD in October 1996 at the Second National Conference. The material may be five years old but the content is still relevant. The conference was funded by the Federal Highway Administration and organized by the Drachman Institute of the University of Arizona in cooperation with Morgan State University. In addition to bringing together the latest research on women's travel issues from a number of disciplines, the Conference was structured to alert policymakers and planners of the need to pay serious attention to the very real differences in the travel behavior and patterns of men and women, and among subgroups of women. This site is an absolute "must read" for any travel professional who is serious about serving this rapidly growing specialty market. It also deserves attention from women who want insight into how the travel industry, academia and the government perceive the issues. Adventure Divas This the online version of a PBS television series. The organizer of the series, Holly Morris, is the author a number of highly recommendable books and magazine articles about doing it on the road. Women's Travel Resources In all honesty, I probably could have satisfied the theme of this week's column simply by supplying you with this link to Mr. Marcus Endicott. His various web sites (He has three plus a travel professionals-only discussion group focused on technology in tourism) are each among the most complete in their respective fields. (Honey, can I have that icy-cold now? They're on the 4 yard line and I've got a bet that's gonna come in on this one. Sweetheart? Hon . . . ? Are you there . . .?) © 2000 Travel The Net, LLC - all rights reserved |