In a conversation, Sabira Mehrin, founder of Wander Woman, elaborates on the platform’s journey.
Tell us the story of Wander Woman and the concept behind it?
Wander Woman was born inside the mind of a traveller who faced challenges in her tourism endeavours and wanted to change the narrative of Bangladeshi women when it comes to travelling. In Bangladesh, it is incredibly challenging to organise a trip given the incompetence of travel agencies, the weak standing of our national passport, and frequent scamming incidents. On top of that, when travelling outside, I faced difficulties finding a like-minded traveller, or a timing and budget match that would suit my fellow travel mates – be it friends or family. I could have just fretted over the travel inefficiencies prevalent in our country and moved on, but the fact that it is so unrealistically difficult for women to even dream of travelling really bothered me. Consequently, Wander Woman came into being with a vision to become a platform that would ensure a woman can travel independently, in a safe, and comfortable space, under proper guidance and in the company of like-minded travellers. I formed it as a Facebook group in 2017, and since then, the community has grown over the years. Now it has a network of over 50,000 Bangladeshi women residing worldwide who support each other to travel more and spread their wings to explore the world.
Founder
Wander Woman
What are the challenges of organising trips for Bangladeshi women? How is Wander Women helping female travellers overcome these challenges?
The first and biggest concern for organising trips for women would be ensuring their safety. You can never entirely ensure that every component and destination will be completely safe for travelling. Hence, we either have to take extra measures, or sometimes hold ourselves back from organizing specific trips to ensure that women travel safely and comfortably without putting a dent in their wallets.
Second, convincing parents is often a challenge, but that’s where we come in. Wander Woman is normalising travel for women by setting examples and sharing positive and inspiring stories of female travellers who used the platform. We have introduced a pre-tour meet-up model where parents can meet the travellers and the Wander Woman team to gain trust and verify the procedures. This unique model has been fantastic for the platform that has worked so hard to build trust and credibility over the years.
Third, striking a balance between quality and finance is a significant challenge for women. We often have to take extra measures and upgrades for women. But this comes with additional charges, which often becomes a budget constraint for many women. We address this by offering a card-less instalment process. We are the first travel platform in the country to have introduced this in 2018.
NOW IT HAS A NETWORK OF OVER 50,000 BANGLADESHI WOMEN RESIDING WORLDWIDE WHO SUPPORT EACH OTHER TO TRAVEL MORE AND SPREAD THEIR WINGS TO EXPLORE THE WORLD.
How has Wander Woman evolved over the years to have a more significant impact on the broader community?
Wander Woman is a community built on trust and support. The pandemic did not stop us from working for the community. We raised funds from the community and partnered with top charity organisations to support over 400 families in Bangladesh. Wander Woman hosted the first-ever digital exhibition with the female founders and entrepreneurs under the Wander Ventures category, and boosted their sales while the pandemic adversely impacted countless businesses.
One of the projects that I am truly proud of is organising self-defence workshops online for 8,000 women in Bangladesh. We partnered with top-notch martial artists to teach self-defence tactics for women, which can help them navigate better and mobilise with confidence and vigilance. So, we have expanded beyond tourism to create an impact in empowering travel communities while building strength and confidence in women.
Last year, Wander Woman was honoured with the prestigious Diana Award (UK) for creating a positive impact among young girls in Bangladesh. We also received an award from She Loves Tech (China), and later got selected for the UNLEASH Plus Program (Denmark), and Westerwelle Foundation (Germany).
Is there anything new coming from Wander Woman? Where do you see Wander Woman in the next few years?
Wander Woman has created a strong and niche community over the last four years and created a movement that developed confidence and promoted change in Bangladeshi women. Here, women have found a safe space to share their travel experiences and connect over the platform to form a lasting bond.
We have served over 5,000 women in the last couple of years, and now we are dreaming of taking our platform beyond Dhaka.
Wander Woman has established its brand value through consistent quality, safe experiences, and top-notch services.
Moreover, Wander Woman isn’t solving a problem only limited to Bangladesh. We believe the platform will also open doors for female travellers beyond our borders.
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