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ForbesTraveler.com
February 07 2008
The same old images still adorn the walls and windows of your local travel office: Smiling nuclear families discovering Disney World and well-tanned, hand-clasped couples honeymooning on the white sand shores of a Caribbean paradise.
While families still go to Disney World and couples still honeymoon in the Bahamas, these images are increasingly anachronistic representations of the typical American traveler. Millions of people today travel with neither families nor mates, but alone—as unattached singles.
In the last decade, the number of single travelers has exploded to reach more than a quarter of the entire industry—a percentage that continues to rise along with divorce rates and the average marrying age. According to Connected: Solo Traveler’s Network, a leading online singles travel community, one-third of the adult population is single and travels that way. “We're divorced, widowed, married to spouses who don't care to travel, or we're just plain single,” say Cstn.com’s editors. “The one thing we have in common is that we are all looking for comfortable and economical ways of traveling alone… without paying expensive single supplement fees.”
Whether these single travelers are looking for an open-bar hook-up scene, or just a way to avoid those bummer “single supplements” at hotels, there’s no shortage of travel companies offering to help.
In the '70s, Club Med and an outfit called Single World (long since defunct) were the only real options for stag travelers looking for trips that catered to their particular situation. Today, nearly two-dozen major tour operators offer tailored service to the growing singles travel market. These companies are a diverse lot, offering everything from traditional party cruises to rugged backwoods adventure trips. To help buyers find the right company, there are also singles travel message boards and newsletters galore, suggesting the arrival of a full-blown subculture.
But what, exactly, is “singles travel”? The variety of services offered under the term is a source of frequent confusion, say industry leaders, exacerbated by cross-promotional activities often linking singles travel agencies to internet dating sites.
Where singles travelers go depends on what they’re looking for, notes Tammy Weiler, a former flight attendant who founded Singles Travel International in 1995. “At the moment the hottest singles trip ‘party’ destination is Miami, hands down,” she says, “followed by Las Vegas, Chicago, Madrid, London, Dublin and Prague. And of course Caribbean cruises are still popular.”
Singles cruises aren’t the one-size-fits-all party boats of yore. Today’s single travelers have plenty of choice when it comes to how they spend time between shore excursions. And, with whom. There are salsa dance cruises, senior and baby boomer cruises, gay and lesbian cruises, even religious-themed cruises.
Single travelers also face a choice of adventure travel companies that now specifically service the solo-traveler market.
But even when far from the world of double-occupancy cruise cabins, global loners can’t always escape the curse of the singles supplement charge.
To sidestep this surcharge, most singles travel companies offer a pre-trip match-up. If they can’t match you before the date of departure, they’ll cover the penalty. Some companies are also able to secure a limited number of single occupancy rooms.
These days, whether you’re heading to the Bahamas or Belarus, you don’t have to be alone just because you’re single.
