This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Solo travel is surging—and an industry still largely built for two is taking note. Google reported in April 2026 that online searches involving "solo travel" hit an all-time high this year, with queries for "women solo travel" reaching a 15-year peak.
Hilton's 2026 trends report found that 26% of travelers planned to take a trip alone this year and that nearly half said they planned to add solo days to the front or back of a family trip. In 1992, marketing researchers identified the solo consumer as an underserved market. But as tourism researchers have documented, the accommodation sector treats double occupancy as the default unit of consumption, which often slaps a "single supplement" charge on customers when they travel without a partner.
The industry essentially penalizes travelers for arriving without a second body to fill the other half of a room they aren't using. The reason so many hotels, cruise lines and tour operators still base prices on double occupancy is that their costs—the room, the berth, the coach seat, the guide—don't fall by half when the second person fails to materialize. But the supplement isn't just a pricing convention.
It's the clearest signal the industry sends about who it built the product for. I'm a scholar who studies what I call the solo economy: how institutions and markets adapt, or fail to adapt, to the rise of single living. I've written before about how retail and restaurants still design for pairs.
Travel is further along than most in recognizing this cultural shift. It's also a useful case because the industry has started on the easy part of the problem but barely touched the rest. The broader shift toward solo living is real.
In 2025, 39.7 million Americans lived alone. That's 29% of all households, up from 20% in 1975. Married couples, meanwhile, fell to 47% of households from 66% 50 years earlier.
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