Group Tour Magazine - November 2023 - 8

SPO TLIGHT
Debra Asberry
BETTER
TOGETHER
Debra Asberry,
president and founder
of Women Traveling
Together, reflects on
26 fruitful years of
running a group tour
company focused
on women travelers
BY KATHERINE LAWLESS
DEBRA ASBERRY has always had
an entrepreneurial spirit. Back in 1997,
she was running a communications company
and even producing a monthly
magazine. At the same time, she also was
struggling to find someone to join her in
whitewater rafting on the Colorado River.
The trip would be a big commitment of
time and resources, and she, along with
all her girlfriends, had packed schedules
that made it difficult to travel together.
After a serendipitous conversation with
a colleague, Asberry realized she wasn't
alone in her struggle to find a travel companion,
and thus, the idea for Women
Traveling Together (WTT) was born.
Today, WTT is a membership-based
organization with the goal of connecting
female travelers before, during, and long
after their group tour experience. Tours
are led by knowledgeable female guides
who not only take care of the logistics
of planning but also encourage bonding
among travelers as they explore the world
together domestically and internationally.
Over the past 26 years, Asberry has
grown WTT from a one-woman operation
to a thriving group tour company that
connects women through their shared
love of travel.
Q. Tell us more about why
you decided to start Women
Traveling Together.
A. I was focused on what I really wanted
to do next in my business career, and I had
put together a list of five things. First of all,
I wanted to include travel. No. 2 was that I
wanted to be able to live anywhere in the
world, so it needed to be an internet-based
company. I wanted it to be women-focused,
I wanted to be able to make a living, and
probably most importantly, I wanted whatever
I did to have a real positive impact on
the life of my clients.
Q. What makes WTT most
unique in the travel industry?
A. It is absolutely the solo factor. I mean,
you can certainly find other women's travel
companies, but what you want to find is a
laser focus on the solo traveler, on you as an
individual, and us as an organization giving
you your travel freedom.
8 NOVEMBER 2023
Q. Why do you think this
women-focused and solo
traveler-focused model is
working so well?
A. Adult women in our demographic-let's
say from mid-to-late 40s and mid-to-late
70s-are women who have raised their
children, and they're at a point in their
life where they are trying to determine
the answer to the question, " What is my
value? " So many women placed their value
on having and raising children, [and] once
that disappears from their life, the question
surfaces again. A lot of women will
answer that question by examining who they
are without the labels of mother or wife.
The other aspect that you look at is the
marital statuses; you have married, single,
widowed, or divorced [women] in our population.
People who travel with us are almost
exactly 25% each. So, you have the married
women who want to have different travel
experiences than their husband-or their
husband doesn't travel at all-and then you
have the other three categories, which do
not have a built-in travel partner and [are
for women who] still want to travel but they
don't want to go alone.
Q. How are the needs of a solo
female traveler in 1997 different
than they are in 2023?
A. In 1997, many women had not risen in the
workforce as far as middle and upper management.
... The original members of Women
Traveling Together were women who were
in traditional working roles, like librarians,
schoolteachers, secretaries-that type of
thing. There was also a higher percentage
of marriage than what we see now, so your
money to spend on yourself wasn't as much
as it is today. Every year that has gone by,
women have become more financially independent,
regardless of their marital status.
In the beginning, we had women who were
working, but they were contributing to the
household income. Or even if they weren't
married, they just didn't have as much disposable
income or didn't feel comfortable
spending that kind of money on travel.
Today, I think the perception about travel
is that it's something we don't put off until
we're 70. We want to do it while we're still
young and healthy, and we see travel almost
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PHOTO NORMAN HUBERDEAU
Group Tour Magazine - November 2023

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