‘GIRLFRIENDS GETAWAYS’

ome. London. Wine country. Miami. Not to mention West Virginia, Ohio, New Mexico and a scrapbook-and-spa retreat.

These are among the many travel destinations vying for an increasingly important slice of the travel industry — women traveling with their friends. It’s important enough to have spawned two new magazines, Girlfriend Getaways and TravelGirl, periodicals with articles on how to pack and where to hike. The magazines also are loaded with ads enticing women to visit.

“We know you love your kids. This weekend, love them long distance. It’s time,” says one ad selling a South Carolina beach vacation.

“At any one moment, there are a million reasons to get away with the girls,” Carnival Cruises declares.

It seems women — more overloaded than ever and sometimes with more disposable income than ever — don’t need much convincing, says Cathy Keefe, spokeswoman for the Travel Industry of America (TIA).

“In 2005, the last time the TIA looked at the numbers, some 48 million trips were taken with just the girls,” she says. “That was up 8 percent from 2004. It is definitely a trend.”

It is not so much the idea of a getaway that is new. It is that the industry is actively courting women travelers like never before, Ms. Keefe says.

“The industry is constantly looking at ways to fill hotel beds on weekends,” she says. “The destinations marketing toward that [has] taken on a life of its own.”

Says Pam Grout, author of “Girlfriend Getaways: You Go Girl! And I’ll Go Too,” “There is not a hotel out there without a package with a clever name.”

Ms. Grout says the getaway idea is so appealing because many women hardly have time to relax between jobs and children and all the responsibilities that accompany them.

“We have our friends,” says Ms. Grout, who is 51 and tries to get away with her friends at least once a year. “We may sneak in a lunch here or there, but to have that time to just focus on your friends is great.”

Ms. Grout says a successful girlfriends getaway must have four key elements.

First, a place to talk. It doesn’t matter if the focus of the weekend is skiing or shopping or museum-hopping. What also happens is uninterrupted talking. It doesn’t even matter what the conversation covers. (On a successful getaway, there usually are no limits.) What matters is the lack of ringing phones and requests for juice boxes.

Second, a place to gawk. That means enjoying the scenery, whether it is the ocean view or the cute waiters, Ms. Grout says.

Third, a place to rock. Obviously, this means different things to different groups. It could mean a trendy bar, tickets to the opera or time in a casino.

Finally, a place to dock. This is the pampering component. This could mean anything from a manicure to a full week of yoga classes and mud baths.

None of the above has to be pricey, Ms. Grout says. A getaway is a state of mind, she explains.

“You can do homemade spa treatments at the local Holiday Inn if you want,” she says. “The point is to shut out your normal routine. It does not have to be expensive.”

Traveling with friends is also a chance for women to step out of whatever their daily role is. At a beach house vacation with the entire family, for instance, dinners still need to be cooked, diapers changed and arguments refereed.

“Even when you go on a family vacation, you definitely feel you have to do more work,” says Debbie Moss, a Capitol Hill lawyer and mother of two school-age children. “You still have to decide what to eat for dinner, and clothes still need to get picked up. If I am with my friends, all I have to take care of is me. It is nice once in a while.”

Ms. Moss has gone on several vacations with friends. Last year, she and a friend celebrated their 40th birthdays with a trip to Italy.

“It was great because we did stuff we wanted to do,” Ms. Moss says of the historical sites and relaxing dinners they enjoyed. “Our husbands and the four small children would not have been interested. I think they were relieved they were not going to be dragged to museums and cathedrals.”

Marybeth Bond, author of several women’s travel books, including “50 Best Girlfriends Getaways in North America,” says its OK — even necessary — to acknowledge that spouses may want to do different things on vacation. That is not necessarily a sexist or stereotypical notion, she says. In researching her books, Ms. Bond has found many women, herself included, who wanted to go helicopter hiking or long-distance cycling.

Ms. Bond says she has found surprising benefits in her many travels. Some of her favorites have been driving through the Southwest.

“The big skies and the grandeur never fail to regenerate me,” Ms. Bond says.

Some of Ms. Bond’s best Western getaways have been with her daughters. They have been to spas and camped out with Navajo guides.

“When we get there, we drive our rental car and blast the CD,” she says. “We sing at the top of our voices. But most importantly, the usual behavior changes. There is a parent and child paradigm shift. We have to focus on the moment.”

Ms. Bond says it is important for women to take the opportunity to step away. Even more important is to leave the guilt at home with the bills to be paid and dishes that need to be washed.

“I have never regretted any trip I took,” Ms. Bond says, “only the trips I didn’t take.”