The brand has been launched with tours exclusively for mature solo women who are looking to explore faraway destinations.
It hails from luxury travel network A Small World, which said the tours were aimed at empowering more women to visit places that might be considered to be “remote or seemingly challenging”.
With its personalised service and curated itineraries in places such as the Amazon, the Mekong and Antarctica, The Solo Cruise Company’s co-founders, Grant Holmes and Michael Cooper, said the aim is “to become the foremost choice” for those seeking to sail the globe in style.
One way in which they hope to achieve this is through their Fully Hosted Journeys concept, designed to help female solo travellers over 55 to see their “bucket-list” destinations in the safety and comfort of an organised group.
Holmes said the idea was born after A Small World noticed a gap in the market for luxury cruises catering specifically to solo female travellers, who often have different concerns to male counterparts. A survey by JourneyWoman found that while women over 50 prefer to travel alone, 70% feel ignored and undervalued by the travel industry.
The Solo Cruise Company is determined to tackle dissatisfaction such as this by anticipating all the needs of women on these trips from start to finish on its series of Fully Hosted Journeys.
Speaking to TTG Luxury, Holmes said the company promises to “take care of all the little details” involved in planning and executing such large-scale trips.
“My partner Michael [both in life and in The Solo Cruise Company] and I have heard many stories from mature solo female travellers about the loss of a spouse or partner or the impact of retirement from a career they loved where they felt their travelling days had come to end,” Holmes said. “Some of those stories are very sad and some were incredibly uplifting, but the joy and opportunity we know we have now is to create incredible itineraries and experiences that solo female travellers find exciting, fun and fulfilling.”
Cooper and Holmes will use their own experience to help host the trips personally. “Both of us are very well travelled, and I have been in the luxury travel industry for over 30 years,” Holmes added.
Departures are also led by local experts, who act as ‘“safety nets” for travellers throughout the trip by providing cultural insights and alleviating language barriers. Groups will tend to consist of 15-20 women, and will also include guided pre- and post-cruise activities, staying in some of the world’s best hotels (partly accessed via A Small World’s membership of Virtuoso), while safe transport is seen as another priority, with evening transfers a no-go for the company.
“We are especially careful about the types and timings of transfers to airports,” Holmes said, adding that female drivers, as well as VIP arrival and departure services at airports, are also arranged where possible and/or necessary.
These precautionary measures extend to The Solo Cruise Company’s choice of hotels, all of which must meet a strict criteria to host its guests.
“We only use luxury hotels located in the safest parts of each destination and we do not allow any interconnecting rooms/rooms at the far end of hallways and insist that all rooms are allocated adjacent to each other,” Holmes explained.
Bookings are made under A Small World’s membership of Swiss Travel Security, which protects all consumer funds irrespective of where in the world guests reside.
Holmes said any financial concerns are further alleviated by the “all-inclusive” nature of The Solo Cruise Company’s Fully Hosted Journeys, which offer gourmet dining, all beverages, gratuities, a selection of shore excursions and entertainment as part of the package.
He said this was particularly important to this demographic, removing concerns for clients over budgeting as well as carrying cash, allowing them to be more fully immersed in their trip.
