Nupur Saraswat is an artist who has been traveling around India for her shows. However, when the 22-year-old NRI arrived at her hotel in Hyderabad from Singapore on Saturday morning, she was told that single women travelers are not allowed to stay there. “So, I am standing outside a hotel in Hyderabad which didn’t let me stay because they realized I was a single lady even after confirming the online booking,” wrote Ms. Saraswat in her Facebook post which has gone viral with over 1,000 shares and 1,600 reactions.
Nupur Saraswat during a poetry session i.ytimg.com
Following this, she questioned travel portal Goibibo on how her booking went through if the hotel in question did not allow single women.
Here’s my question – why do you ask my gender and number of people if not to have a filter to avoid this.
— Nupur Saraswat (@TheRealNupur) June 24, 2017
Ms. Saraswat revealed that a representative from Goibibo reached out to her and assured her that they would put better filters on their website and are looking into the incident. They also gave her a complimentary stay at a different hotel, one that does allow single women, as per a report published in NDTV.
CEO Ashish Kashyap shared a statement on Twitter which said that they take such issues very seriously and have de-listed the hotel pending investigation, according to the report.
Ms. Saraswat, however, raised another important point, one that goes beyond better filters on online booking platforms. She expressed her opinion on Twitter with a series of tweets,
Here’s the news – WOMEN TRAVEL SOLO NOW. I bet deepika does too? So why hasn’t your app caught up with this trend?
— Nupur Saraswat (@TheRealNupur) June 24, 2017
What if I had arrived at 11 PM? Would they still consider me safer in the streets than in the hotel?
— Nupur Saraswat (@TheRealNupur) June 24, 2017
There’s a policy change coming @goibibo and it better does fast. I am just looking out for all my sisters who solo travel in the future
— Nupur Saraswat (@TheRealNupur) June 24, 2017
Saraswat to NDTV,
I want to see a safer space for women who travel alone. There are also those who have tried to silence this by asking, “Why are you making a fuss if it’s clearly stated in the policy?”
She added in a new Facebook post.
Well, I am making a fuss because I am not ready to settle. I am not ready to live in the fear of my safety anymore. I am not ready to have an entire system push me around until I find a man to travel with.
Bravo!
