Big tour operator eliminates single supplement on many cruises

[mercedes]

Single cruisers got some good news this week from Overseas Adventure Travel as the company announced plans to eliminate its single supplement on many voyages for 2009.

The Boston-based tour operator, which bills itself as the leading international adventure travel company for the over-50 crowd, also is eliminating the single supplement for all land tours in 2009 and launching a new Women's Only line of vacations.

An executive at OAT says the number of women signing up for its trips has soared from 13,500 in 2003 to 40,000 this year, and many of them are single. Women now account for 70% of the company's business, up from 50% just a few years ago, she added.

"In the past, many (single women) were reluctant to travel in groups where the majority was part of a couple, but that has certainly changed as more women, either married or single, choose to travel either alone, without their spouse, or with a female friend," says OAT co-chair Harriett Lewis.

OAT expects about 47,000 women customers in 2009, and it projects that 26,000 of the women will be traveling alone, with a female friend, and/or without their spouses. The average age of the company's female customers is 66.

OAT is eliminating its single supplement on seven of the 14 "small ship adventure" cruise itineraries it is offering for 2009, including voyages on the Nile River in Egypt, the Yangtze River in China and the Amazon River in South America. The company also is waiving the single supplement on its cruise tour around Patagonia and the Chilean fjords.

The trips must be booked by Feb. 16, 2009; free single supplements are based on availability.