Making Sri Lanka Safer for Solo Women Travellers
Sri Lanka is gaining recognition as one of South Asia’s most promising destinations for solo female travellers. From Condé Nast Traveller to leading travel influencers, the island is being celebrated for its natural beauty, hospitality, and relative safety. For the tourism industry, this presents a powerful opportunity, but also a responsibility.
While the majority of female travellers report positive experiences, isolated incidents of harassment still occur. These incidents, though few, risk eroding hard-earned trust and undermining the country’s reputation. As an industry, we must act decisively to protect and build on this accolade.
Looking regionally, we can learn from our neighbours. In India, states like Kerala and Rajasthan have introduced women-only taxis and trained female tour guides to cater to solo female visitors. In Indonesia, Bali’s tourism board has launched cultural orientation sessions for service providers, emphasising respectful interaction with women. Vietnam has developed certification programs for female-friendly accommodations and tour operators.
These are some recommendations the tourism industry in Sri Lanka can consider:
- Mandatory gender-sensitivity training for all tourism-facing staff and service providers.
- Clear, responsive reporting systems for tourists, including multilingual hotlines and a standardised complaint mechanism.
- Swift prosecution of offenders and public awareness of these cases to demonstrate a zero-tolerance policy.
- Improving female-centric infrastructure such as female-only accommodations or designated spaces for women in some public areas. Organisations like the Women in Travel Collective have recently launched training programs for female guides—an encouraging step toward increasing female-led travel experiences and creating safer opportunities for solo women travelers across the country.
Addressing these issues also requires systemic change: improved public safety, female-focused tourism services, and awareness campaigns to shift cultural attitudes. This is not only about protecting our reputation — it’s about setting a benchmark for responsible, inclusive travel in the region. With proactive steps, Sri Lanka can lead by example.
Let’s ensure Sri Lanka is known not just as a safe place for women to travel alone, but as a destination that prioritises their safety and empowerment.
