Empowering Solo Female Travellers: The Effect of Travel Motivation, Negotiation Skills, and Perceived Behavioural Control on Travel Intention

Despite the growing popularity of solo female travel, few studies have examined how empowerment-related factors combine to influence solo travel intention or the mediating role of perceived behavioural control in these relationships. Accordingly, this study investigates the effects of solo travel motivation, negotiation skills, and perceived behavioural control on solo travel intentions among Gen Y and Gen Z female travellers. It also examines whether perceived behavioural control mediates the relationships between solo travel motivation and solo travel intention and between negotiation skills and solo travel intentions. Data were collected from 200 solo female travellers in Türkiye using purposive sampling. The proposed relationships were tested using structural equation modelling and mediation analyses. The results revealed that solo travel motivation and negotiation skills both positively influenced perceived behavioural control and solo travel intention, with negotiation skills being the strongest predictor of both outcome variables. In addition, perceived behavioural control significantly mediated the effects of solo travel motivation and negotiation skills on solo travel intentions. These findings indicate that negotiation skills provide a critical empowerment mechanism that increases women’s perceived behavioural control and, consequently, their solo travel intention, offering a novel contribution to the literature on solo female travel. The findings have important practical implications for tourism practitioners and policymakers seeking to promote solo female travel by empowering women’s negotiation capabilities and perceived behavioural control.