Claim: Sri Lanka is the best tourist destination for solo female travellers in 2024, according to Time Out magazine
Fact: Claim is false. While Sri Lanka is on a Time Out list of best tourist destinations, it is ranked ninth.
A list of countries has been circulating on Facebook and X with the claim that popular global travel magazine Time Out has ranked Sri Lanka as number one among best tourist destinations for solo female travellers in 2024.
Similar posts on Sri Lanka’s ranking in the list can be found here, here, and here.
Multiple mainstream media outlets as well as social media pages began celebrating this purported milestone, which can be seen here, here, and here.
While many social media users hailed the list, others have expressed doubts. Considering the increasing number of tourists to Sri Lanka, Newschecker decided to check the accuracy of the claim.
Fact Check/Verification
The Newschecker team first noted that this list was posted by X account World of Statistics most recently on February 18, 2025. The post can be found here.
The account had previously posted the same list on April 28, 2024, citing Time Out. The post can be found here.
We noted that no link to the specific Time Out article, their social media account, or any other further details, were provided in these posts.
Newschecker then looked up the original Time Out article, which was published on March 19, 2024 by India-Jayne Trainor, a staff writer for the platform. The archived link to the article can be found here.
“A few countries are known to be relatively safe and easy to navigate for women looking for an adventure, with well-trodden backpacker routes, friendly locals and the chance to meet new people – or spend some good quality alone time. Here are nine of the best destinations for solo female travellers and good-to-know advice on how to stay safe,” read the introduction to the article, before listing out the following destinations, ranking Sri Lanka ninth.
- Portugal
- Czechia
- Japan
- Guatemala
- Vietnam
- Australia
- Greece
- New Zealand
- Sri Lanka
Moreover, the article does not claim the list as official and based on original data or any reliable studies, but merely presented as an article by Trainor, a British-Australian travel writer based in London. Most importantly, this list does not call Sri Lanka as the safest or best travel destination for solo female travellers. It is ranked ninth.
At the time of publication of this article, Time Out has not yet released a list of best travel destinations for solo female travellers for 2025, further confirming the viral claim to be false.
Conclusion
Social media posts claiming that Sri Lanka is the best tourist destination for solo female travellers, according to an article on Time Out, found to be untrue.
Result: False
Our Sources
‘The Best Places for Solo Female Travel in 2024’ by India-Jayne Trainor, published on Timeout.com, March 19, 2024
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