Solo travel keeps on rising
23rd November 2009
Up to 15 percent of British travellers have hit the road alone within the last year according to recent research
Up to 15 percent of British travellers have hit the road alone within the last year according to research conducted by online travel company ebookers.com.
The survey underlines a solo travel boom first reported by market research company Mintel earlier this year. Mintel found that that the number of solo travellers had grown by as much as five percent over the past five years, with over five million Brits travelling alone in 2008.
However, the Mintel report also forecast that the solo travel trend would stall during the recession as single households were forced to cut back.
But now ebookers’ online poll of 4,000 adults has found that more people than ever are travelling alone because the family or friends they would normally travel with have been unable to afford holidays during the economic downturn.
The survey showed that 18 to 25-year-olds are most likely to travel alone, accounting for just over half of all solo travellers, and men are almost twice as likely as women to holiday solo.
Almost a third of people said going on a “soliday”, ebookers’ name for solo holidays, allowed them to meet more new people than they would if travelling with others.
Top solo travel destinations were Europe, India and Africa, but nearly half of all solo travellers had gone on long-haul trips to destinations including Australia, Japan and South America.
Thinking of going alone? Check out our