SINGLE people are getting a raw deal from holiday companies, a new travel trends report reveals.
Many singles are put off travelling because of the financial penalties they face from tour operators, said the report released today as the four-day World Travel Market (WTM) opened in London.
Holiday companies are missing out by failing to tap into the needs and interests of single people, added the report, produced for WTM by Euromonitor International.
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The report said that single-person households now accounted for 30% of all UK households, with the average age of first marriage for women having risen from 22 in the 1980s to 28 now, and with the men's average rising from 24 to 30.
The report added that the holiday choices of many single people aged between 25 and 40 in the UK were influenced by their hectic lifestyles, which were often characterised by a focus on career and busy social life.
On holiday, these career-minded singles were more inclined to spend their higher-than-average disposable income on treating themselves, rather than on family life, and were willing to pay the price for a higher-end service. Singles, therefore, represented excellent return on investment potential for travel operators.
Caroline Bremner, Euromonitor International's global travel and tourism manager, said: "Single people today are currently being turned off from holidaying alone by the financial penalties they face, such as surcharges on accommodation.
Concerns
"They also have concerns over safety and security abroad, and some feel uncomfortable with the social stigma of dining alone on holiday. If UK travel operators address these concerns and tailor holiday packages to suit the interests of single people, we believe individual travel represents a vast and as yet relatively untapped market."
The report also said that the UK holiday market would do well to take note of "babymoons" - a new holiday trend emerging in the US, where couples expecting a child go away for one last, big vacation before the arrival of their first infant.
Other US-led travel trends include teenage birthday-party sleepovers in hotels and "grad travel" packages for grandparents wishing to bond with their grandchildren.
Ms Bremner said: "Babymoons are being marketed to expecting couples in the US as a holiday to remember, where they can relax and have valuable couple time before the arrival of their son or daughter.
"By helping couples celebrate such a special life stage event, travel operators have the opportunity to build customer loyalty, encouraging the couple to turn to them again when planning family vacations in the future."
The report also highlighted what researchers saw as an unpreparedness of the UK and Europe to meet the specific demands of Asian tourists.
It added that, for example, the VisitBritain (correct) website was only half-translated for Chinese users.
"Europe has so far only taken small steps to make sure it can fully cater to the needs of Asian tourists," said Ms Bremner.
