this is bbc news. we will have the headlines for you of the hour, which is straight after this programme. hello and welcome to talking business with me, mark lobel. let's take a look at what's on the show. women are travelling alone. not with friends, not with family. they're just taking off and enjoying the experience and the adventure by themselves. fasten your seat belts — the future of travel is female, and they're already taking off in their droves. yes, women are shifting the tectonic plates of tourism, seeing the world on their own terms. so why is the tourism industry failing to cater to the lucrative they aren't just reading eat pray love, they are living it, creating their own stories on the road less travelled with a well worn suitcase. so, why is the tourism

industry failing to cater to the lucrative solo female traveller market? solo female traveller market? are they on the brink of being left behind? i'll be discussing all of this with our guests this week. they are megan jerrard, the queen of travel content and co—founder of the hugely successful solo female travelers tours, joanna reeve, head of partnerships from the game—changing pioneers in this space, intrepid travel, and maeve hartney, the chief program officer at the travel company seeking active learners, not passive tourists, road scholar. alsojoining us is the big boss of gostudent, and he'll be telling us how his business is enhancing tutoring to develop the skills needed for the future. wherever you'rejoining me from around the world, once again, a big hello and a warm welcome to the show. gone are the days of women travelling alone

being the exception — it's fast becoming the rule. adventurous women are redefining the travel sector. in fact, in recent years, google trends data has consistently shown a surge in searches for female solo travel as women rewrite the travel playbook. so how much is this "ladies first" approach worth? the global tourism industry stood at a staggering $1.1; trillion last year. according to condor ferries, 64% of travellers worldwide are female, and the company estimates that $125 billion will be spent by women on travel this year. but research has shown that, despite their substantial spending power, 70% of women over the age of 50 feel undervalued by the travel industry. they say it fails to understand the needs of mature solo female travellers, and that's despite women making up 54% of the tourism workforce, maybe

because they are concentrated in lower—skilled, lower—paid and often informal roles. so what's driving this cultural shift in the tourism sector? let's hear from some of the women navigating theirjourneys alone. i love being able to travel solo because it works with my schedule, and i can have the rest that i really need. you get to meet so many amazing people and have wonderful adventures. i hit the road when i was young and travelled solo because ijust love to do it. i love experiencing other cultures and exploring our beautiful world. it's really important for me to carve out time for myself so that i can show up and be my best for my family. i get to explore places. that i probably wouldn't if i had my children with me. i find a sense of liberation, a kind of a joy and a sense of empowerment. it's so much easier to plan. no need to co—ordinate or compromise with anyone, and i particularly love to explore at my own pace.

i absolutely enjoy every experience i have had.| the world is a beautiful place. i love travelling solo with women, great itineraries for us, great women, and seriously, it's where i get my belly laughs. so let's examine this with those in the industry driving this change. our first guest has been doing that by using the power of social media to build her business, which has spread to a global team across four continents. now, you don't get a more seasoned solo female traveller than megan jerrard, co—founder of solo female travelers tours. great to have you with us on the programme from australia, meg. i want to begin by finding out how you feel when travelling alone. what's it like? it's liberating, to be honest. liberating, exciting. and there is a whole different feeling to actually

experiencing something. smelling the smells, tasting the tastes, and actually experiencing it for yourself in person. does it feel safe? there are many considerations to take into account when you do travel solo. that doesn't mean that the world is unsafe. i've had car accidents ten minutes down the street from my house versus driving solo in mexico, so i feel like the world is just as safe as the world that you live in at home. you do always have to take precautions, like familiarising yourself with a new culture and a new country. what part has social media played in inspiring your business? social media is huge because i genuinely feel like confidence comes from visualisation, and there's a lot of power in saying, "well, she's doing it, so i can do it too." and if you haven't had that in your life before this point, social media is so powerful because it truly opens your eyes to a whole world that's out there and possibilities that are endless, simply because you can see others who you identify with doing the same thing. our community has seen explosive growth. we've grown from 20,000 members in 2020 to now

near 400,000 members, and it's growing almost 1,000 members, sometimes, daily. why would people choose to travel with you? small group tours are very effective in meeting the challenges of solo female traveller so some of those challenges our safety, logistics, meeting new people, feeling lonely, orfeeling bored and a small group tours exist in a very unique place in the market whilst also offering the opportunity to meet other like—minded women who have the same passions for exploring the world, the same attitudes and beliefs and interests. it is a really unique opportunity that if you do find yourself in a position where you are travelling alone, and also support females in the local economy that you are visiting. that's our unique selling point. we not only want to empower

women to travel we want to use that dollar to empower women in those economies and business. why would people choose to travel with you what have you been able to tackle that other businesses have been slow to pick up on? what have you tapped into that other businesses have been slow to pick up on? we are empowering women to travel, but we're also empowering the women in the destinations that we visit. we're hiring female guides, even though there are more challenges to that. looking for female—owned hotels, looking for female—owned restaurants, bringing in as many women in the local economies as we can because we genuinely believe in supporting the female economy and really trying to achieve a little bit more gender balance within tourism. what is the value of the solo female traveller sector to the industry? there was an estimate from 2022 that the leisure travel industry itself was worth 4,000 billion. if we're making an assumption that women and men are a 50/50 split from that, then that's 2,000 billionjust for the female travel industry. and then we do know that 14% of that are solo female travellers. so i would say that solo female travellers probably equate to around 280 billion in terms

of a value to the travel industry per year. finally, meg, why do you think the tourism sector at large has some blind spots in this area? i think it's tradition, but i also think that this specific segment has been undervalued for so long. there's a perception that family groups are where the money is. women do make the majority of booking decisions, purchase decisions in the travel or leisure travel. so a solo female traveller is not only travelling alone, the next trip she takes may be with herfamily, it may be with her husband, it may be with her mother and sister. so by isolating women who travel alone, they're really missing out on a much larger segment of the market. meg jerrard of solo female travelers tours, thanks so much for sharing your insights with us. and, well, maybe we'll run into each other on our next holiday.

thank you very much forjoining us on the programme. thank you so much for having me. so that was the rise of solo female travellers, spurred on by that lull during the pandemic. the intimacy and social purpose you couldn't dream of with a man hanging around. and that is why i'm really excited to introduce you to my next guest, because her company was way ahead of the curve. reading the room early, picking up on where the data was pointing, they introduced women—only tours even before lockdown. joanna reeve, head of partnerships at intrepid travel, thank you so much for being here. now, you've got a great story to tell, so let's kick off with what inspired intrepid to start doing women—only tours in the first place. what was the "eureka!" moment? so it's important to say, er... ..solo doesn't necessarily mean single. it's women travelling on their own and choosing to travel on their own. and, pre—pandemic, this was something that we saw growing quite quickly but absolutely boomed post—pandemic. i think with women being at home, some of them,

like myself, holding down full—timejobs, home—schooling, wondering whether we'll ever get the opportunity to travel again, really did drum it home for women who wanted to use travel as a means to connect with others and push themselves out of their comfort zone. so creating female—only trips designed for women to empower women was an obvious choice for us, particularly within a small group environment where women can feel the safety in numbers. well, we'll delve into your product in a moment, but let's talk money first. what is the value of the female solo traveller to you? they are incredibly integral to our business success. um...| mean, we know across the industry that 80% of travel decisions are usually driven by women, and that's globally. and intrepid, while 46% of our travellers are solo, 72% of those are women. so these women, particularly in that 45—plus age demographic,

we've seen grow by 22%, that demographic alone, post—pandemic. they are women that have time, they're prioritising time for themselves, they have disposable income, and they are choosing to challenge themselves, whether that be through a bucket list destination that they've never been to, a physical challenge, such as climbing a mountain or a cultural immersion experience they've really been looking forward to. these women have the time and the money to get out and travel. not only do they travel once a year, they're extremely loyal — they'll repeat business. we'll see them travel the following year, maybe bring family, friends, daughters, mothers, sisters. we're seeing a lot of intergenerational travel and even women that are going out and meeting others like them from different countries and planning their next trip and creating a circle of friends that travel more regularly together. let's talk numbers, then. how do you as a company aim to retain your female customers as their lives change? i think it's very important to listen to your customers

and evolve your product alongside there. if you look at how women particularly in the 45 and 50 plus travel industry and how they represent, where i might see someone like myself being represented in marketing for example, you can still see a lot geared towards families, couples, or once you get 50 plus, it starts to take a certain feel that does not potentially represent a woman who feels quite adventurous and want to get out there in felix inspired. i think it's important to pay attention to customer needs. lets talk numbers then. how many repeat customers stick with you for over a decade, for example? we have run some surveys with over 2,000 of our... of our female travellers that have travelled with us before. 66% said they were intending to travel with us again. there is a broader industry stat, which states that 60% of women in the uk are also planning a solo trip

in the next few years, so we know that there's an appetite out there. i know anecdotally that, um, the... ..the mindset of a female traveller is changing. women that perhaps would have gone on family holidays or another golfing holiday or put their needs aside, are really starting to change the narrative and seize the day and choose their own travel decisions. and like i say, i don't see that slowing down, particularly as we've seen it across a whole range of age groups. finally, joanna, let's talk about brochures. it's not a phrase i thought i'd utter out loud, but they aren't exactly catered to the solo female traveller. these women are not being represented, you're quite right. we don't tend to see women in an inspirational, aspirational way taking on the world. i do think how other businesses market and sensitivity and representation of these women is really important, because they are there and they want to book, and i think it's important that they see themselves.

joanna reeve from intrepid travel, it's been absolutely brilliant talking to you. thanks forjoining us. thank you. so now let's turn to working women reaching the age where it may be time to put their feet up, retire elegantly, and let their hair down. because my next guest says that is exactly when the nomadic itch gets stronger for her clients. she is the chief program officer at road scholar. maeve hartney, welcome to talking business. it's great to have you on the show. thank you for having me. i'm very happy to be here. now, why are you choosing to focus on the, shall we say, more mature solo female travellers? road scholar, the organisation i work for, focuses only on mature travellers in general, both male and female. but what we've seen is a complete rise in numbers of the amount of single women travelling alone. about 60% of our travellers are always women and have been traditionally, but we're finding, of that 60%,

at least 85% are women who are travelling alone — not with friends, not with family, they're just taking off and enjoying the experience and the adventure by themselves. and how have you noticed that? and what type of numbers are we talking about? so, last fiscal year, we had over 90,000 people travel on our in—person programmes and about 40,000 attend one of our online programmes. of that 90,000, about 70% of our travellers annually tend to be women, um, of which we have about 63,000 enrolled for this year so far. 85% of our solo travellers are always women, and 60% of those solo travellers are married people who are travelling without their partners. we found that very interesting. maeve, one thing we have noticed is that there is a marketing what what is the typical profile of your solo female client? they tend to be in their 60s, at retirement age or just into retirement.

they tend to be, and i think we are seeing this as a sort of generational shift around old women, they are more independent, educated, they like the autonomy of travelling alone and not being responsible for other things or people and they seem to have more avenue adventurous spirit than we have seen in past generations. one thing we have noticed is that there is a marketing deficit when it comes to solo female travellers. can you tell us how that could be addressed? deficit when it comes to solo female travellers. can you tell us how that could be addressed? in a lot of households, it's sort of the female who's making the travel decisions on behalf of the family. and so it's interesting that no—one is focusing on the female traveller, because not only are they the ones that... they are the ones that are doing the most travelling right now, they are also the ones, when not travelling alone, who are making most of the travel decisions. people need to think about who that clientele is — what are the things that are going to appeal to a female? can you check in online? do you have to stand in line late at night? are there rooms available if you're on an overnight flight, transatlantic flight from the us to europe?

can i check into a room before 3pm without having to pay a premium to be able to do so? can we do something about singles supplements that we're charged at hotels? hotels, cruise lines — anyone who offers accommodation, as we all know, you pay for the cost of the room. so if you're a solo traveller, you're paying the same cost as two people sharing the cost of that room and socialising the cost between the two of them. so the more people can think about how to welcome our solo travellers, and in particular female travellers, you know, there is a safety concern to some extent for women travelling alone, and it's nice to know that, you know, we're not walking a mile and a half away from the elevator to find a room late at night or early in the morning. having things more accessible and easier to access is really what people should be thinking about. and all of that list of things you mention, is there enough research going on trying to unpick it and make it more meaningful to solo female travellers? i don't think so. i think there's a lot of work that needs to be done.

there is actually a new airline that has announced recently that you can now pick a pink seat so you can sit beside other females on the aeroplane. but other than that, there is not really a whole lot being done to make the experience as easy and simple as possible. i just want to ask you to talk us through a very unique aspect of your company, the online programmes. how popular is remote travel like this with your clients i just want to ask you to talk us through a very unique aspect of your company, the online programmes. how popular is remote travel like this with your clients who are unable to physically travel to the destination? it started during the pandemic, where nobody could travel to any destination, and it was a way for us to engage with our participants as well as our lecturers and academics around the world. but what started as something just to engage with folks has become extremely popular, to the point that we're dealing with about 40,000 individuals a year on these programmes.

i always believed that life begins at 50, but now you've proved it. maeve hartney from road scholar, thanks forjoining us on the programme. thank you. from women going online to academics going online. let's turn to academics turning to virtual reality in the pursuit of education. let's speak to the big boss from go student linking students with teachers using cutting—edge technology linking artificial intelligence and virtual reality. thank you forjoining us, i know you're normally based in austria but you're on a family holiday in turkey at the moment so extra kind of you to share your time. before we transit from triazole tech to ed tech, i want to ask you, in keeping with this week's show, do the women in your life like to travel alone. in my life, my mother likes to travel alone, i she not often has enough time to do so but when i was a kid i she sometimes use the weeks to travel around in the year. and then come back and definitely felt . energised after that.

is that what she said? it was an energising trip travelling alone! it energising because you do not have to follow - the programme of anyone else. you have your complete freedom, you can do whatever you want - and you don't need to follow a routine that you have - in your daily basis. your online tutoring company has spanned the european market for close to nine years, so in that time how far has virtual reality come in engaging students? virtual reality is something that every child already- receives on a daily basis. every child loves to play video games and that is| basically another form of virtual reality. - bringing learning and education

. into virtual reality is a great l extension and engagement driver for kids all around the world. - how important is virtuali reality to your business? it is becoming more and more important and when it comesl to learning, learning . is not something easy. it is not supposed to be easy, it is tough, it will requires - a lot of exercise in repetition but if you manage to bring it| into a more fun and engaging environment, it isjust morel attractive to kids. that is where virtual reality. can play a big role in making the exhausting exercise of learning, making it. more fun and engaging. i have a regular battle with my children over screen time and i'm sure many other people do too, i'm not very generous because i understand it can harm their development. how much screen time do you think children should be allowed a day as they rely on it for your technology? it depends, if your kids want -

to become professional computer players than they properly need more screen time than others l but if they want to become a twitcher streamer, - they also need more screen time but, jokes aside, - my parents always taught me that it is about finding - a middle ground. it is not getting too excessive. i same with unhealthy food, when it comes to topics . like screen time, or playing i video games, it is the same. anything that feels excessive, of course, it is not healthy- but completely forbidding it or putting strict rules on it, | at the end of the day, the kidi finds ways to circumvent that. your future of education report found that 54% of students want to learn with al and yet 24% have access to it in the classroom. like why do you think that is? lots of schools -

restrict the usage. the reality is at home kids already use it. i most of the kids have i smartphones, they have access to internet, i and they can use it. but in schools, a lotl of schools are afraid, and that's why they restrict i usage and that is how you can explain this discrepancy. introducing ai into student learning, is clearly disruptive and possibly irreversible but at the moment ai makes a lot of mistakes, so, don't you agree that it is a bit premature to do this with unsupervised children now? humans also make a loti of mistakes, i would say. so, i think it'sjust natural and it is in| constant development. are you using children as guinea pigs? no but with every new - technology you need to ask it with people in order to make it better. . you can'tjust hide away- new technology for ever and not task it with real users, it willjust not get -

any better. a lot of the security issue comes down to how data is collected and used so how are you collected the data that students train on and then how are you using the data that they then provide? in the eu you have a lot- of clear rules around privacy for data and any company that works in that space has - to follow those rules. so, making sure that the data is not shared, it is secured . and follows the laws . about the eu sets you. finally, what is the concrete proof, if you have any, that any of your innovations work? absolutely. the biggest proof is that i when it comes to teaching, it is this repetition element. when you sit down withj a teacher, consistently, once perweek, twice perweek, same like going to school, -

and you go to your classes, you get better results - after a short amount of time. that is what it - all comes down to. thank you very much for interrupting your holiday to talk to us here on talking business. that's it for this week, ladies and gents, i hope you enjoyed the show from wherever in the world that you arejoining us from. don't forget you can keep up—to—date with all the latest on our global economy on the bbc website or the smartphone app and you can also follow me on x. so, bon voyage and thank you for watching, i will see you soon. goodbye. coming up after the break — we speak to the big boss

hello there. there was a lot of cloud around on saturday for northern and western areas. the best of the sunshine was further east — and part two of the weekend looks pretty similar. we start dry with lots of sunshine, and then the cloud amounts will tend to build up into the afternoon, producing just one or two showers. now the azores highs continuing to nudge northwards across much of england, wales, northern ireland. so, light winds here, but fresher across scotland. it will remain breezy throughout the day here. we start off with plenty of sunshine after that fresh start, and then clouds will tend to build up into the afternoon. it could turn quite grey in a few places. the odd shower likely for western scotland, maybe western hills of england and wales. otherwise it's mostly dry, up to 25 celsius in the southeast, the high teens further north. sunday night, we do it all again, the clouds tend to melt away for many, and the clear skies, it'll turn quite fresh again with temperatures of 8—12 celsius. now, some changes taking place to start the new week. the first of a series of low pressure systems will work its way in to the country during the day. so we start off with plenty

of sunshine, but the clouds will tend to build in the west, and it'll turn wet and windy through the day. some pretty heavy and persistent rain for northern ireland, and it will turn windy with gales, perhaps around some irish sea coasts, but lighter winds again in towards the southeast, where it will stay dry and sunny all day. so temperatures responding, up to 25 celsius or so — that's the high teens further north and west, picking up a little bit more humidity as well from the south. and then monday night, that area of low pressure and its weather fronts crosses the country. it stays quite breezy into tuesday, with the low sitting to the north of scotland, and that will bring a day of sunshine and showers, some of them will be heavy and thundery, particularly in the north and west, some of them merging together to produce longer spells of rain for western scotland. temperatures down a touch, i think 22—23 celsius will be the high, mid—to—high teens further north. and then we look out to the atlantic, this next area of low pressure contains the remnants of what was hurricane ernesto.

and that potentially could bring quite a lot of rainfall to the northwest of the uk around the middle part of the week, certainly so for western scotland. but further south and east, it will tend to stay dry, i think, with some sunny spells, and it will turn increasingly humid as we pick up these south—westerly winds. stays pretty unsettled for the end of the week across more northern and western areas. a better chance of staying drier towards the southeast.

live from washington. this is bbc news. an israeli team says it is cautiously optimistic about gaza ceasefire talks while hamas describes suggestions of progress as an illusion. 0pposition supporters rally across venezuela and the world against the president's claim he won last month's election. and two cases of mpox are found outside of africa, in pakistan and sweden, as fears grow of a wider outbreak. hello. israel says it has killed two senior hamas militants in an airstrike in the occupied west bank on saturday. israeli officials claim the militants were involved in the recent killing of an israeli man in thejordan valley. meanwhile tensions continue to rise

between hezbollah and israel.