Women-Only Flat Rental App Launched in US

The solo female traveler market is an increasingly powerful sector in the US travel industry.

However, women who take to the road alone usually have more issues to take into account than men. A minority of horror stories of dodgy Airbnb and Couchsurfing hosts can see women flocking to the nearest female-only floor in a hotel.

But now one peer-to-peer accommodation site has decided to do something about that, by launching a subgroup dedicated to female hosts and guests, The Independent reported.

Overnight–a site and app similar to Airbnb, which allows you to book accommodation with local residents–has teamed up with Girls Love Travel, a women-only online community, to launch “Groups”, which will allow home-sharing through trusted networks.

The feature will connect travelers and hosts who share friends or social networking groups in common. With 350,000 members of Girls Love Travel located around the world, it’s a promising start. Other networks are in the works to collaborate, too.

Overnight said in a statement: “While cost is a key issue for travelers, trust is perhaps even more important–both for travelers and home-sharing hosts. This is especially true for female travelers.”