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So why Singular Travel?
" It started with a really horrible experience I had in Mauritius. I had just got divorced and wanted a quiet place where I could find sunny beaches and enjoy time on my own or be with a group of people. That particular group couldn't understand that. They had a different “take” on my situation. I obviously couldn't enjoy being ‘alone’, and therefore I obviously ‘needed a man’ They set to and found me a partner. I had no idea that this man was a professional Escort.
The whole evening became a nightmare, with the group nudging each other and winking. I ended up feeling like Shirley Valentine. I wasn't a person at all and the holiday was a nightmare"
After that I began to think about the attitude of the Travel business towards single travellers whether they are on their own, or with a friend but simply prefer to have a single room.
"There is an entrenched approach in the business which I really feel needs to change; that one person isn't financially viable. That two people travelling together will automatically eat and drink twice as much as a person on their own. It’s a fallacy. It's not true.”
Is that just Suzy on a Mission?
She agrees that she is, but having done a lot of research on the subject she is convinced that life styles are changing. For one thing, the rise in the numbers of adults living alone has gone up enormously, and she believes that the Travel business needs to alter it’s approach to a new and widening market of Singles wanting to travel.
"It's taking time, but gradually travel companies - large ones not just the small ones are beginning to see that there's a large market out there for the single traveller.
In financial terms, this section of the population is a growth market and one that really needs to offer more holidays to suit individual needs. If you think about it, you could say they were being taxed for travelling alone..

It's a fallacy that two people eat and drink twice as much as one. They don't. The reality is that 48% of adults in the UK are known to be single, and that is a large number. Among them there will be thousands who may be in perfectly happy partnerships, but who still want separate holidays. Maybe with a friend, but there will also be people who feel they are single and want that to be respected. They need to have that choice without having to pay extra for it."
Easy to say, but will the Travel companies take action ?
Suzy believes that some companies are already beginning to understand that many single people prefer to travel off-season, avoiding school holidays, at a time when prices are lower and there are fewer travellers, which really benefits the travel business as a whole. Some Agents are already willing to offer customers a better deal on single occupancy.

"The reality is that the world of the single traveller is bursting at the seams. I am getting a huge response to my site. I don't charge for it, I don't want to work that way. It's demanding but I am convinced that there's a need for these kind of holidays and the business community need to do something about it."
Has she a point? I think so.. don't you ? What do you think

Suzy Cooper can be reached through;

http://www.singulartravel.co.uk

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