70% of Solo Female Travellers Worry About Safety — What the 2024 Data Means for Vietnam Trips
Updated April 28, 2026
The 2024 Solo Female Travel Report surveyed roughly 5,000 women worldwide. 70% said they worried about their personal safety while traveling solo — up from 64% in 2023. 25% feared for their safety at least once in the past year. Experience cuts the worry: 78% of women with fewer than six solo trips worry about safety, versus 59% of those with ten or more. The data doesn't rank Vietnam specifically, but it gives a baseline every solo traveler can apply when deciding where to go.
The Solo Female Travelers Club's 2024 Solo Female Travel Report — surveying around 5,000 women across its solo and non-solo segments — is the largest public dataset on how women actually feel and behave when traveling alone. It doesn't rank Vietnam specifically, but it gives a benchmark every traveler can apply: how worried are solo women globally, and does that worry translate to fewer trips?
The short answer: worry is up, but so is travel. The two aren't moving in opposite directions.
What the numbers show
The 2024 report ran an online survey that collected approximately 5,000 responses (the club describes it as "the largest, most comprehensive and only global research study on solo female travel statistics" currently published). The headline findings:
| Metric | 2024 |
|---|---|
| Respondents who worry about personal safety when traveling solo | 70% (up from 64% in 2023) |
| Respondents who feared for their safety during a solo trip in the past 12 months | 25% |
| Respondents who said they couldn't keep themselves safe | 1% |
| Worry rate among women with fewer than 6 solo trips | 78% |
| Worry rate among women with 10+ solo trips | 59% |
The 20-point experience gap is the single most useful data point in the whole report for anyone new to solo travel. Safety worry is real, but it demonstrably drops with experience — the fear of a solo trip is, for most women, worse than the reality.
Growth in solo female travel
- Google searches for "solo female travel" grew roughly 6x in the four years before the pandemic.
- Searches collapsed during COVID-19 restrictions but recovered by 2022.
- By early 2024, searches surpassed their January 2020 peak — the solo female travel boom is not just back, it's larger than before.
The report's own sample confirms the trend: more women are going on solo trips more often, despite rising reported anxiety.
Top destinations in the 2024 report
The report highlights several destination categories. Southeast Asia appears once in the "recommended first-time destinations" top five (via Thailand). Vietnam is not singled out in any top-five list — neither as recommended nor as cautioned against.
Top destination categories in the 2024 report:
- Bucket-list destinations: Japan, Iceland, Greece, Australia, Italy, Costa Rica
- Favorite cities: London, New York, Paris, Barcelona, Rome
- Recommended first-time destinations: UK, Italy, Spain, Thailand, Portugal
Notable absence: neither the report nor its sample has the granularity to rank individual Southeast Asian countries against each other. For Vietnam-specific solo-travel safety signals, you have to look at other indices (see below).
What this means if you're planning a solo Vietnam trip
1. You're not unusual if you're worried — and it shouldn't stop you
70% of women feel the same anxiety you might be feeling. The other side of the data is that 25% actually feared for their safety, which is a meaningfully smaller number — meaning the majority of worriers never encountered a situation that materialized the worry. Preparation reduces it further.
2. Vietnam doesn't have a Southeast Asia-wide safety ranking in this report, so look at other indicators
Although the Solo Female Travelers Club report doesn't name Vietnam, multiple other indices place Vietnam favorably for solo female travel in Asia:
- Hostelworld's annual solo traveler surveys have repeatedly included Vietnam in the top 10 safest countries in Asia for solo women.
- Vietnam's violent-crime rate against foreigners is documented as low by the U.S. State Department and the UK Foreign Office.
- Our own read, from years covering destinations across the country: Vietnam is one of the more comfortable solo-female-travel options in Southeast Asia, roughly comparable to Thailand or Japan on daily lived-experience safety.
That said — safety ≠ zero friction. See the FAQ for practical concerns that come up regularly.
3. Stack early trips toward the easier destinations
If you're on one of your first 5–6 solo trips (the 78% worry bracket), stack your Vietnam itinerary toward the destinations with the most developed English-speaking tourist infrastructure:
- Hanoi — where most long-haul flights arrive; plenty of women-only dorm options and hostel social events
- Hoi An — small, walkable, heavily visited by solo travelers
- Da Nang — easy to get around via Grab, good coastline walking, large English-speaking hospitality scene
Save Ha Giang, deep-rural Phong Nha, or unconnected Mekong Delta villages for a second trip — these are doable solo, but require more local problem-solving.
4. Pack by season, not by perception
One practical note the report repeatedly surfaces: women pack overly conservatively when they're nervous. Vietnam's north can be genuinely cold December–February (Hanoi has dropped below 10°C multiple times in recent winters), the center gets severe typhoon rain September–November, and the south stays hot year-round. Pack for the climate you're entering, not for an imagined threat level. Vietnamese women in every city dress across the full Western spectrum; there is no single "safer" dress code.
Limitations & caveats
- It's an industry/community survey, not peer-reviewed research. The Solo Female Travelers Club is a trusted voice in the community, but the survey methodology (online self-selected panel) means respondents skew toward women already engaged with solo travel. True population numbers could differ.
- "Worry" and "actual incident" are not the same. The 70% worry figure measures anxiety, not crime. 25% fearing during a trip is a closer proxy for actual concerning events, but still self-reported.
- No Vietnam-specific breakdown. The report doesn't quantify Vietnam risks or rankings directly. Claims about Vietnam's safety for solo women in this article lean on secondary indices (Hostelworld, State Department) and lived observation, not the primary Solo Female Travelers report.
- Year-to-year survey composition shifts. The 2024 sample isn't identical to 2023's. The 64% → 70% rise in safety worry is real but could partly reflect sample composition changes.
Sources & further reading
- Primary source: Solo Female Travelers Club — 2024 Solo Female Travel Report — full report with methodology and subset tables.
- 2026 Solo Female Travel Trends and Statistics — the club's rolling statistics page (may supersede the 2024 figures as newer surveys land).
- Vietnam Solo Female Travel Safety Tips and Advice — the club's Vietnam-specific practical guide.
Related on this site:
- Vietnam visa guide — 45-day visa-free and 90-day e-visa rules
- 14 days in Vietnam — our most-requested first-trip itinerary
- 2025 arrivals record — context on crowds and planning
Cite the original research
Solo Female Travelers Club — “2024 Solo Female Travel Report”, January 2024. https://www.solofemaletravelers.club/solo-female-travel-stats-2024/
Day Trips Vietnam summarises published research as a reader service. We do not control the original source and may not share every conclusion. About our editorial approach.
Frequently asked questions
Is the 2024 Solo Female Travel Report peer-reviewed?
No — it's an industry survey conducted by the Solo Female Travelers Club (a travel community, not an academic journal). But it's the largest publicly available dataset on solo female travel, with around 5,000 respondents across its solo and non-solo travel segments, and the methodology is transparent.
What percentage of solo female travelers worry about safety?
70% of respondents in the 2024 survey said they worried about personal safety when traveling solo — up from 64% in 2023. 25% reported actually fearing for their safety at some point during a solo trip in the preceding 12 months. The report found 1% said they couldn't keep themselves safe at all.
Does experience reduce safety worries?
Yes, significantly. Women with fewer than six solo trips reported safety concerns at 78%; women with ten or more solo trips reported 59%. The gap (roughly 20 points) suggests that anxiety drops sharply once you've been through several trips without incident.
Is Vietnam specifically rated as safe for solo female travelers?
The 2024 Solo Female Travel Report doesn't rank Vietnam by name. In its top-destination lists, Thailand was the only Southeast Asian country in the 'recommended first-time destinations' top five. However, other ranking bodies (Hostelworld, Lonely Planet regional safety indices) have consistently placed Vietnam in the top 10 for solo female travel in Asia. Our own read: Vietnam is comfortable for most solo female travelers, with well-established traveler infrastructure and low violent-crime rates.
What are the biggest safety concerns in Vietnam for solo women?
Practical, low-drama things: motorbike-taxi scams (use Grab instead of flagging bikes), overnight sleeper-bus pickpocketing (watch your valuables while sleeping), aggressive vendors in tourist hotspots (Ben Thanh Market, Ha Long Bay ports), and occasional inappropriate attention in nightlife areas. Violent crime against foreign women is rare.
Should I avoid certain destinations?
No destination in Vietnam is off-limits to solo women, including Ha Giang, Sapa, or rural homestays. The more practical question is which destinations are easier for first solo travelers. Hanoi, Hoi An, and Da Nang have the most developed tourist infrastructure — plentiful cafes, Grab cars, English-speaking hotel staff — which lowers the daily decision load.
What's driving the worldwide rise in solo female travel?
Search data tells the story: Google searches for 'solo female travel' rose roughly 6x during the four years before the pandemic, recovered in 2022, and surpassed January 2020 peaks in early 2024. The report attributes the growth to delayed trips catching up post-COVID, remote work enabling longer trips, and rising disposable income among women in their 30s–50s.