'It's like your local bestie': This startup helps make solo travel as a woman feel safer

In the middle of the night, during her first visit to Morocco, Vanessa Karel found herself stranded.

She had planned to fly into Marrakech for a business trip in 2020, but the pandemic-induced flight chaos rerouted her flight at the last minute to Casablanca, located almost three hours away by car.

"I didn't know anybody, it was midnight, and I was scared," the San Francisco-based entrepreneur said. Karel, 32, was frantically searching on her phone for a type of concierge service "who can greet me and take me to my hotel so I know I'd be fine."

Although Karel managed to find her way to her hotel, the experience set the tone for the rest of her trip.

"Thankfully, I didn't have a horror story, but I did have many scary experiences," she said. "I felt unsafe and uncomfortable in some areas. As a petite woman, I was standing out. I obviously seemed confused, I didn't know where I was going." Karel said she was sometimes chased down the street by men.

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She even tried to find a female tour guide but could only find one.

That sparked an idea for a startup – one focused on safety that would also empower women. Launched in November 2021, Greether is a for-purpose travel platform that seeks to change the way women travel while supporting ethical tourism. Through the platform, solo female travelers are connected to verified local guides – dubbed "greethers," a play on greeters – who create an itinerary, share local customs and safety tips, and even meet them at the airport or hotel.

In the fall of 2022, Greether was accepted into Expedia Group's first-ever accelerator program – which launched in February 2023.

In January, the startup was chosen as one of the 15 most innovative sustainable travel companies by the United Nations World Tourism Organization.

Solo travel as a woman

Despite her experience in Morocco, Karel still enjoys traveling by herself – she's been to about 30 countries on her own.

"I love solo traveling, it has really taught me about myself," she said. "It has made me a very adaptable and flexible person."

Karel also realized she was the only woman among her friends and family who traveled alone. When she asked them why, they said they were "scared" over what could happen – a common concern among solo women travelers.

In a 2022 survey of over 5,000 women, 69% of those who have yet to travel alone said that what's stopping them is their personal safety. Even for those women who travel solo, their top concern is also safety.

Women also want to stick together if they can, even if they're technically traveling alone. Ninety-six percent of the survey's respondents said that if they were traveling solo, they'd want to book a women-only tour, an increase from 68% in 2021.

It's impossible to ignore the reality of violence targeted at women, especially in countries where women have less rights or there are different cultural norms between genders. In a 2018 survey, 2 in 5 women said they have experienced sexual harassment while traveling on their own. More than half of the respondents said they have felt unsafe at one point during their solo travels. And sometimes, situations turn for the worst, which is everyone's biggest fear.

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Karel wants to counter some of that fear with the help of Greether.

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"I think we can all resonate with feeling like we were put on boundaries since we were very little as women, like obstacles and barriers," Karel said. Now more than ever, there are more women in the workforce and millennial women are getting married and having kids much later in life.

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How does Greether work?

In just under two years, the platform already has local guides in over 500 cities in 97 countries, such as Seoul, South Korea; Copenhagen, Denmark; and Tel Aviv, Israel. New cities are being added every day – on March 20, the first Guatemalan guide is slated to meet up with a traveler. If you don't see a travel guide in the city you want to visit, Greether will try to find one for you.

"It's like your local bestie wherever you go," Karel said. "Everything is very tailored to you."

The platform is inclusive too, catering also to nonbinary, transgender and other LGBTQ+ people. Some of the Greether guides identify as nonbinary and transgender as well, Karel said.

Your guide will meet you at your hotel or any other meeting place that you decide on, and together, you two will explore the city via an itinerary she created based on your interests – all the way down to vegan restaurants, if that's your thing.

She'll also brief you on safety precautions, like local do's and don'ts, how to use public transportation, and neighborhoods to avoid. Your guide will check in with you before, during, and after your trip via messaging through the website. (The company is working on developing an app.)

Many Greether clients are on stopovers or layovers and want to know what they should do in their limited timeframes straight from a local.

At first Greether services were free, but since last September, its tour services cost $55-$80 per two hours. The price goes up if you want to add more time or a friend to the booking. The local guide gets about 40%-55% of the booking payment, according to Karel.

"When you're traveling and using Greether, you're putting money into women's hands," Karel said.

According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization, women tend to work the lowest-paid and lowest-status jobs in tourism, despite making up most of the tourism workforce around the world.

"I think there's a lot of money left on the table (in the tourism industry)," Karel said. "There's a variety of traveler's needs."

Different travelers have their own concerns around safety that isn't always understood by tour companies, like how LGBTQ+ travelers feel concerned over their safety and don't feel comfortable visiting certain countries. Other travel companies such as Fat Girls Travel and Pink Girls Run the World focus on creating safe spaces for different travelers, like plus-size travelers and Black travelers.

"How can they take into account that not every single traveler is going to have the same travel experience? There are things you don't think of unless you're in this community."

Top safety tips for solo female travelers

• If you're going somewhere you've never been, Karel said to plan your arrival carefully. For starters, try to arrive during the daytime. "Sometimes you're just booking the cheapest flight and you're not realizing you're arriving at midnight, which can be dangerous," she said.

• Use your hotel to your safety advantage. "If I'm traveling solo, sometimes I'll go as far as letting the concierge know you should be expecting me at this time," she said. "Sometimes they'll call me to make it back safe." Not all hotels might do this, but it's worth asking, she said.

• Be friendly to the locals, and don't be afraid to turn to them for help. Ask others who have visited that place before about their experience.

Kathleen Wong is a travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Hawaii. You can reach her at kwong@usatoday.com

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Solo travel for women can be daunting. Here are some helpful tips.