One is no longer the loneliest number. In fact, more tour companies are singling out solo travelers for attention. Why? They spot a growing market.
The big tour company Intrepid Travel (www.intrepidtravel.com) has announced that three of its new trips in 2017 will be for solo travelers only. It has seen a 38 percent increase in the last five years in customers traveling alone on group tours, so that half of their travelers are now independent.
The trips are: Classic Rajasthan (March 19-April 2; $1,113 per person, sharing a twin room; $350 extra for own room), South Morocco Discovery (March 18-27, $765 per person, sharing a twin room; $195 extra for own room) and Cafe Colombia (March 11-19, $1,606 per person, sharing a twin room, no single supplement available).
Trip costs do not include airfare from the U.S. The trips also require physical stamina and involve physical challenges such as hiking and long road journeys. Intrepid, based in Petaluma, Calif., offers more than 1,000 tours a year in 100 countries.
If the trip sounds too active for you, contact your favorite tour company and see if it, too, has created trips just for solo travelers. Other companies are reducing the dreaded "single supplement" so that traveling solo is more affordable.
