What the Growth of Solo Travel Means for Luxury

Luxury Travel News

The Skift New Luxury column is our weekly column focused on the business of selling luxury travel, the people and companies creating and selling experiences, emerging trends, and the changing consumer habits around the sector.

The travel industry spends much of its time targeting couples and families without thinking much about those who might want to travel on their own.

Of course, strictly speaking, anyone can travel on their own, and a lot of people do. But it is much more difficult to arrange a solo trip as part of an organized tour or cruise with the sometimes-prohibitive single supplements companies charge.

Despite these challenges — as well as the emotional side of going away on your own — luxury tour operators are seeing a rising number of solo travelers. Perhaps this is because people are now much more adventurous in their choice of holidays than they were 20 years ago and travel companies have moved to cover this trend.

As Tom Marchant, the founder of luxury travel agent Black Tomato, said: “Solo travel has moved away from pre-conceived notions of the lonely and awkward. Clients are looking to step out for a moment and experience things at their own pace to gain a deep sense of place and focus on well-being or creative projects.”

Solo travel has become an industry in itself and luxury travel companies are starting to wise up to the possibilities it offers.

For feedback or news tips, reach out via email at [email protected] or tweet me @paddywhyte.

— Patrick Whyte, Europe Editor

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