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[quote=BGray;482644]Hi Ben,
I have a suggestion for the people at Just You/Travelsphere.  I know that quite a lot of people have been disappointed over the last year or so that a large number of long haul tours have been dropped from the JY programme due to lack of numbers - such as Mexico, Costa Rica (disappearing next year), Tunisia, Morocco, Malaysia, Japan, Kerala etc. and I've been wondering about a way around this.  I am sure that most JY folk know that the sister company Travelsphere has a much wider range of holidays, but that many of us would prefer not to go with them as they don't want to be the only single traveller (or one out of three or four single travellers).  This is something I will probably have to contemplate a couple of years down the road when I have exhausted the JY tours I want to take!  But - and here is my suggestion - would it be possible to either increase the number of single traveller places on a number of Travelsphere hols (i.e. the ones not offered by JY e.g. Nepal, Equador etc.), to say eight or ten places or more on selected dates as being "single friendly" so that those who went would be part of a larger group of single travellers - or else to designate a couple of departures on some tours as predominantly for singles and advertise them on both the JY and Travelsphere websites/brochures??  This would increase the choice for single travellers without JY taking the financial risk of running additional or new tours.  What do you and other Forum users think?  This is only a broad suggestion and it could be tweaked in all sorts of ways to make it workable, but does it have potential?  Could you run it past the bosses and see what they think?
Best wishes,
Bob[/quote]

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I agree with Bob. I went with travelsphere last year to america's golden west with my family and on our tour there was a single man that mixed well with the rest of the group as and when he wanted. Mayb it would be possible to offer a specific single traveller tour date on destinations not available with JY; like some other travel companies offer, however they dont refuse bookings of couples etc. but the idea would be to be a predominantly single traveller holiday.

'BGray' wrote:
Peter, I disagree - I went on a holiday a couple of years ago to Italy as a single traveller with a general tour operator and spent the week with a couple and another single traveller. They were very friendly, happily married for decades and actively sought out me and the other solo traveller and included us in meals, after dinner drinks etc. Many couples link up with other couples on holiday, strangers before they met. Some couples I'm sure would want to just keep to themselves but many are open to socialising with new friends on holiday, both other couples and singles. As far as I know Travelsphere already have a number of single spaces on most if not all of their tours (the only ones on their website that do not specify this option are cruises) and it seems that they currently reserve around 4-6 spaces per tour for single travellers. Granted some of them may be taken up by a single person travelling with a couple or group, but likewise many would also be people travelling singly. I think it is highly unlikely that if you went on a holiday as a single traveller with Travelsphere you would be the only one. There was a guy on my last JY hol who had gone many times with Travelsphere and he said he usually hung around with the other single travellers on their holidays and sometimes with a couple or two, depending on who he hit it off with. My suggestion to JY/Travelsphere is that they look into offering more single places on Travelsphere hols, to encourage more singles to go on those tours that are not currently being offered as part of the JY programme. It's really an extension of their current policy, not something new that I'm suggesting.
Best wishes,
Bob

Peter, I disagree - I went on a holiday a couple of years ago to Italy as a single traveller with a general tour operator and spent the week with a couple and another single traveller. They were very friendly, happily married for decades and actively sought out me and the other solo traveller and included us in meals, after dinner drinks etc. Many couples link up with other couples on holiday, strangers before they met. Some couples I'm sure would want to just keep to themselves but many are open to socialising with new friends on holiday, both other couples and singles. As far as I know Travelsphere already have a number of single spaces on most if not all of their tours (the only ones on their website that do not specify this option are cruises) and it seems that they currently reserve around 4-6 spaces per tour for single travellers. Granted some of them may be taken up by a single person travelling with a couple or group, but likewise many would also be people travelling singly. I think it is highly unlikely that if you went on a holiday as a single traveller with Travelsphere you would be the only one. There was a guy on my last JY hol who had gone many times with Travelsphere and he said he usually hung around with the other single travellers on their holidays and sometimes with a couple or two, depending on who he hit it off with. My suggestion to JY/Travelsphere is that they look into offering more single places on Travelsphere hols, to encourage more singles to go on those tours that are not currently being offered as part of the JY programme. It's really an extension of their current policy, not something new that I'm suggesting.

Best wishes,

Bob

Hi Bob, I think this idea definitely has potential, I was disappointed to see Mexico is no longer available through JY. I really want to go to Russia next year and have my fingers crossed that that one will still be available. Ecuador would also be on my list if there was a "singles-friendly" option.

RM.

'stu151' wrote:
I think this is a good suggestion, but I'm a bit unsure exactly how it would work in reality.
Say a particular Travelsphere holiday was allocated as a "single friendly" trip, with 8 places kept for single people. If 8 single travellers take up these places, all well and good, but assume that 6/8 weeks beforehand the couples part of the holiday was fully booked, but only 2 of the single places had been taken up. Now would the singles have the right to cancel with a full refund, as clearly Travelsphere would want to fill the remaining places with couples rather than turn business away, leaving a holiday with only a couple of single people.
I personally would not be willing to book such a holiday until I knew that there were at least 5/6 other single people, and would also be concerned that they were real "singles" and not a group of 4/5 people holidaying together who all knew one another beforehand.
It will be interesting to see what Just You come up with.
Stuart

Hello

It is a good point that Stuart makes about 'Singles' on a Travelsphere holiday. It is not a charity company and they would almost certainly fill spaces with couples if there were not enough singles.

I personally would not want to travel as a solo single. Couples go because they want to be with one another and not part of a threesome.

Peter

Hi brownowl, why don't you ring Travelsphere and ask how many single travellers are currently booked on that tour, bearing in mind that it's still a couple of months away and more may book? I was thinking of going to China with Travelsphere last year on my own (as the itinerary of their Discover China tour really appealled to me) and rang them a couple of times to talk about the tour and the number of singles booked - at that time they had 6 single places, with 3 already booked. In the end, my travel plans changed but having been on a few JY long haul tours now, my confidence has risen and if there was a Travelsphere hol I really wanted to do, I would now do it - even if I was the only single traveller! In my imagination I've decided in that case I would ask the tour manager to introduce me on the bus and ask the couples to include me so I wasn't left alone - I'm sure some friendly folks would oblige!! Also I've spoken to a number of JY folks who have also done Travelsphere as a single and on the whole they found it very positive and the couples to be welcoming, so don't worry I'm sure it would be fine!

Cheers,

Bob

I think Bob's suggestion is a very good one. There are some places I would like to visit which are offered in Travelsphere's brochures, but I would not want to book a holiday which caters mainly for couples. I am sociable and get on with people of all ages, but would feel I am 'intruding' even if the couples were friendly. Also, it would be nice not to have to pay single room supplements!

Jaya

Hi, I was interested ro read this thread, as I was booked on the Parks &Canyons tour for 25th September 2012, and JY rang me a couple of weeks ago to say that the tour had been cancelled due to lack of bookings. I had already checked with Olly tosee if there was a chance that it would be cancelled before I booked transport, hotels etc., and he informed that that it would go ahead. However, they offered me alternative dates,but I was unable to accept those, so I have been forced to book with Travelsphere rather than have no holiday at all, and I am worried that I shall be the only single traveller amongst couples. The suggestion put forward seems a very good one, and I too, shall be interested to see what JY think.:s

I think this is a good suggestion, but I'm a bit unsure exactly how it would work in reality.

Say a particular Travelsphere holiday was allocated as a "single friendly" trip, with 8 places kept for single people. If 8 single travellers take up these places, all well and good, but assume that 6/8 weeks beforehand the couples part of the holiday was fully booked, but only 2 of the single places had been taken up. Now would the singles have the right to cancel with a full refund, as clearly Travelsphere would want to fill the remaining places with couples rather than turn business away, leaving a holiday with only a couple of single people.

I personally would not be willing to book such a holiday until I knew that there were at least 5/6 other single people, and would also be concerned that they were real "singles" and not a group of 4/5 people holidaying together who all knew one another beforehand.

It will be interesting to see what Just You come up with.

Stuart

Hi folks,

Many thanks for your thoughtful replies - Will, thanks for your encouraging comments: I look forward to some new tours being added over the next few years! I have only done 4 JY tours (with two more booked), but I do hope to be travelling with you for many years to come and I was just concerned that I'd be running out of long haul destinations in a couple of years time! It has given me a lot of pleasure to plan my holidays over the last couple of years, flicking through the brochure and contemplating various options. Health and finances permitting, I hope to travel the world with JY (and Travelsphere for those hols not offered by JY) for many years to come!

Best wishes,

Bob

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