HOTELMARKETING.COM

Courting solo travelers

April 03, 2008 | Hospitality Industry

Until recently, travel options for singles were largely limited to trips of the package-tour variety, with everyone thrown into one enormous group or just one step removed from a dating service. Now that's beginning to change.

Sure, traveling alone can be an extremely freeing experience, with no one else to slow you down or bicker with over which sights to see along the way. But it can also be a drag. When you’re hauling your bags around on your own, or when the only other single on your hiking tour is the guide, or after your third sunset dinner on the hotel’s veranda - alone - traveling by yourself can lose its allure.

Until recently, travel options for singles were largely limited to trips of the package-tour variety, with everyone thrown into one enormous group or just one step removed from a dating service. Now that’s beginning to change.

As travel companies look for new ways to expand business, they are increasingly courting solo travelers. Roughly one in 10 leisure travelers hit the road alone, according to the most recent data from the Travel Industry Association, and more travel companies, from specialty tour operators to individual resorts, are creating packages that cater to those customers.

Get the full story at The Boston Globe

Visit our sponsors: