Travel Alone, Together: The Power of Solo Group Travel

Solo travelers and single travelers are enthusiastically venturing out to fulfill their travel dreams in greater numbers than ever before. In fact, according to solo travel statistics, traveling alone is the #1 travel trend in the world – and 25% of all people want to travel solo. Another recent survey found that a whopping 54% of women are planning to take a trip alone in 2024. For travel advisors who specialize in this niche, the rewards come in its repeat business and high satisfaction levels.

Some of the benefits for solo travelers are the freedom to do and go wherever they want when they want, without having to compromise with companions; make travel planning decisions easier and faster; travel on a whim; embrace new adventures and stretch their sense of independence; have greater flexibility during their trips to take full advantage of chance encounters that arise; enjoy the opportunity to make new friends in an unencumbered atmosphere; and be as self-indulgent as they wish.

“Travel alone, together” is the tagline at Extraordinary Explorations, a group tour division of CAA Club Group (CAA is the Canadian Automobile Association, sisters to the AAA in the U.S.). The club has over two million members located in South Central Ontario and Manitoba. They specialize in group tours, with one division devoted to solo travelers.

“This is one of our most popular and successful product lines,” says Lois Farley, CTC, CAA Club Group, business development specialist, Solo Groups/Extraordinary Explorations. “We promote ‘Travel alone, together,’ as these trips are not just for singles, but for anyone who wants to travel but doesn’t have anyone that’s interested in traveling with them. While most of our guests are single or widowed, some are married or in relationships but whose partner isn’t interested in traveling.”

Farley adds: “There has definitely been an increase in demand for solo travel. Our demographic in the past was ages 60-80, but since Covid, we are now seeing reservations coming from a much wider demographic inclusive of travelers in their 20s right through to age 59.”

Libby Shields, of World Travel For Singles, also reports: “At this age 50 and up, selling to the market is a very easy sell, especially after coming out of Covid. Most people have made a bucket list, and they are ready to start checking off their list.”

Shields has also noticed significant changes in this market segment in recent years. “For solo travelers, there has been an incredible amount of awareness made in today’s single market. Cruise lines are making an effort to recognize how unfair it is to charge singles double the fare because they do not have a traveling partner. Cruise lines are adding more and more solo cabins to their ships, and will offer sales waiving the single supplement.”

Vernae White, CTA, is a travel planner at Voyages By Vernae, and she provides travel planning services for independent and group travel for solos. “My solo market has increased greatly since the pandemic,” relays White. “I escort two to three groups a year, and we have more and more solos joining us. We’re taking a group to Iceland in March – and half of the group are solos.”

What solo travelers want
We asked these three solo travel experts what their solo traveler clients want most from their travel experiences. Who better to ask than the advisors who are interacting with solos every day?

“They want the security of traveling with a full-time CAA Tour Host, who is on tour with them to take care of anything that might arise,” advises Farley. “And they are looking for shared experiences, so we always include activities like cooking classes, market tours and food tastings, winery or distillery tours and tastings, painting classes, and so on. Our clients don’t want to be sitting in a coach all day, they want to be out and about, doing things. We limit transfers and driving times each day, maximum two hours between rest stops and no more than five hours in a day (and that would be on our longest day, maybe once or twice during a tour).”

White finds that “solo travelers want to experience their desired destinations, and often would like to meet local people as well as other travelers to share the experiences.”

And Shields says, “They are seeking once-in-a-lifetime experiences, and are willing to pay the price. They want a full day of scheduled tours, and love a very busy, pre-planned day while traveling.”

Perhaps the most important aspect of solo/single travel tours and groups is that individual travelers never have to be entirely on their own. All they need to do is choose where in the world they want to go, how much they want to spend, and when they want to go. From there, their travel advisor and travel supplier will handle all the details.

Travel suppliers marketing solo group tours also typically offer a Facebook group and/or mobile app where tourmates can meet and make connections before the trip starts. Solo travelers often become part of a close-knit community with other solo travelers, and great friendships are born. Together on trips, they can share their travel curiosities, always feeling safe with their tour rep within reach from start to finish. And then, after a full day of discovery, they can go to their own private hotel room or cruise cabin to rest and unwind (no sharing necessary).

Destinations for solos
Where should travel advisors send their solo travel clients?

“We have found that our top sellers for solo travelers have been: Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Greece, Croatia, Slovenia, and European river cruises,” recommends Farley. “We were very happy to find a river cruise line with solo departures that we can book group space on. We’ve only done the Douro River with them so far, but are planning the Rhone River for 2025 and feel it will sell equally well. Outside of Europe: Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia, New Zealand and Australia, South Africa, and right here in Canada Newfoundland and the maritime provinces.”

For another perspective, a just-released study from InsureMyTrip revealed that the best destinations for female solo travelers are: Munich, Germany; Madrid, Spain; London, UK; Lisbon, Portugal; and Barcelona, Spain.

White suggests that “any destination the solo traveler would like to experience is good. What counts most is how they travel. For example, I have a solo traveler in her eighth month of a two-year itinerary. We have planned this, giving her time to travel on her own mixed with some group travel and cruises. It’s a good balance for her desire to travel solo, yet not be isolated. I often recommend my solo clients do a hybrid of trips. Time touring a destination with a small group and then time on their own relaxing on an island or in a cabin type of situation, depending on their desired experiences.”

Peer-to-peer tips
Well established in this niche, the travel advisors that we spoke to offered some valuable tips to help their travel advisor peers who are interested in breaking into solo travel.

“There is a vast market for solo travelers,” comments White. “Putting together groups is a great way to attract solo clients. It is key to find a supplier partner who gives a very low solo supplement for their product and do a group with them. I have a partner who offers no solo supplements for river cruise cabins on each sailing as well as whole sailings dedicated to solo travelers.

She also advises that “if an advisor wants to grow their solo clients, note that you don’t have to do everything solo (unless you want to). In our groups that we escort, we have couples and solos, and these same clients continue to travel with us over and over again. People enjoy being around others who are not just like them. We are very cognizant of our solos and make sure they feel included in all activities.”

Shields’ top tip is to “first decide the solo age group you want to target and develop. Depending on the age group will determine the tours and cruises that will be most appealing to attract clients. My clientele is age 50 and up.”  

Farley suggests: “Don’t be shy about asking suppliers to quote on solo travel. It is becoming much more common for them, too, and most will have very good suggestions of accommodation and touring options that work well for solo travelers.”

And then to build that solo book of business, she offers: “Do in-person events if within your budget in your area, or have online virtual visits where you can share your tours or ideas for possible destinations to gauge interest, present general travel tips, have an online wine tasting event, and so on. Solo travelers are generally a very curious group of people and love to learn new things.”

FROM THE SPONSOR:
Riviera River Cruises has always paid special attention to the solo market. I believe we are the only company that has many departures where there are no single supplements across all grades. We typically offer about 14 departures in Europe with no single supplement and on every one of our departures we have four or five cabins with a 25% single supplement. We also offer yacht cruises in Croatia and a few of them have no single supplement. Can you imagine being on a yacht that would normally hold 38 guest,s and with the solo only departure, there will be just 19 of you! https://www.rivierarivercruises.com/solo-traveler-cruises. Our solo cruises are only sold to solos, therefore the tours and onboard experience is tailored to the solo market. However, we get a lot of ladies or gentlemen that know each other and want to travel together, but do not want to share a cabin or personal space – these cruises are ideal.