Photo analysis of the Hashtag #Solotravel and its gender implications

Abstract

Solo Travel is one of the types of tourism that has been growing the most in recent years. Despite this, it continues to be an area of research that is relatively unexplored in the field of tourism, hospitality, and events. The objective of this article is to try to decipher the messages that different profiles on the social media platform Instagram want to communicate through their posts that include the hashtag #solotravel, in order to understand the meaning that traveling alone holds for these individuals, as well as their different behaviors and experiences, taking into account the potential gender differences that may exist. To achieve this, a content analysis has been carried out on Instagram posts that include the hashtag #solotravel, based on temporal, geographical, demographic, and linguistic dimensions. Subsequently, a semiotic analysis has been conducted to observe how the aforementioned dimensions are related to the images. From the analysis conducted, it can be inferred that many of the posts that use the hashtag #solotravel do so in order to reach a wider audience. Men use the hashtag #solotravel in nearly the same proportion as women. The experience, achievement, empowerment, self-realization, stepping out of one's comfort zone, and overcoming limits are the primary motivations and rewards of traveling alone. Lastly, it is noteworthy that safety is a major concern addressed in the advice offered by individuals who have already traveled alone, especially among women.