The Blind Spot in Luxury Travel 2025 — Why The Greatest Assist Is Uniquely Designed for Luxury Solo Travelers
- Britnee Johnson
- Jul 18
- 10 min read
Updated: Jul 24
There exists a quiet and underestimated class of traveler who books five-star oceanfront suites for themselves—and they don’t wait for someone to tag along to enjoy it because they’ve earned a life that deserves no delay. 📊 Nearly 1 in 3 travelers now choose to travel solo. And yet, the overall global luxury travel market, estimated at USD 1.48 trillion in 2024, with the global solo travel market within it anticipated to reach USD 1,508.2 billion by 2033, still centers couples, families, and groups, rarely considering the confident individual moving through the world with intention. This oversight doesn’t just miss the mark; it misses opportunity. What isn’t measured can’t evolve. What isn’t evolving is already behind. What isn’t measured isn’t designed for, and what isn’t intentionally designed for cannot be truly served. Let that settle.
The Quiet Data Point Signaling What’s Ahead
In an era where personal agency is currency —and a status symbol at that—, spending power among individuals is rising, and personalization is the new gold standard. Yet solo luxury travelers remain one of the most undervalued forces in the industry—still viewed as edge cases and outliers rather than the natural evolution of modern travel, despite their growing numbers. What was once considered a one-off personal pursuit is now a global movement reshaping how people experience the world. Solo trips are booming, particularly among high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs).
Still despite the solo travel market’s revenue projections, premium behaviors, and growing footprint on the industry, the luxury sector continues to overlook this segment—clinging to a regressive worldview that equates solitude with lack or loneliness. For decades marketers have avoided portraying solo travelers, fearing that images of someone luxuriating alone might be misread as isolation rather than autonomy. But that fear is simplistic, and entirely out of step with today’s cultural landscape. In 2025, solitude is synonymous with privilege, strength, self-direction, and refined discernment. Most industry data is still aggregated by booking party, not individual behavior. So even when solo travelers spend more per person, upgrade intentionally, and extend their stays, their economic power often goes overlooked.
Luxury Isn’t Always Shared (The Luxury Of One)
Luxury’s Legacy of Togetherness
There’s a major blind spot in modern luxury consumer behavior—and soloists sit right in it. Luxury travel has long been synonymous with togetherness—the clink of champagne flutes, honeymoon villas, yacht decks adorned with family smiles and perfectly matched linens. Aspirational storytelling has long celebrated shared moments, casting solitude as an anomaly, even a suspicion. Couples toast, families gather poolside, villas come prepared with two robes, two glasses, two lounge chairs—because who would indulge in such beauty alone? This polished messaging entrenched a legacy design thinking that framed luxury travel around traditional milestones: honeymoons, anniversaries,and babymoons. Hotels, pricing structures, packages, and marketing all scaled this assumption, never questioning that meaningful moments require company. But this legacy infrastructure was has never truly considered solo travelers. Meeting the needs of this emerging elite now demands more than marketing tweaks—it requires a wholesale reimagining of operations, pricing models, and service frameworks. To lead in the future of luxury travel, brands must move beyond the safe comfort of togetherness and embrace the intentional power of solitude.
Solo By Design
The industry’s outdated pricing logic still dismisses solo travelers as less “valuable” or “cost-efficient,” blind to the truth that they pay a premium—both financially and intentionally. Even in 2025, the travel industry annoyingly clings to double occupancy as its default, commonly tacking on single supplements as a penalty for choosing solitude, all rooted in the flawed notion that indulgence demands company. Then there's the lazily stripped-down couple’s itineraries or repackaged group tours that are practically an insult those who unapologetically choose themselves. So when solo travelers engage, they are silently overcharged in addition to being awkwardly forced into spaces and experiences never considered for one. The message is unequivocal: one-size-fits-all is extinct.
Solo travel is neither a diluted nor secondary form—it is a deliberate, elevated expression of luxury that needs intentional design, not default accommodations. Today’s solo traveler seeks purposeful, meticulously crafted experiences where every nuance—the whispered welcome and curated activities—speaks directly to their individuality. Luxury for the affluent solo traveler need not be an afterthought, but a pursuit of refinement requiring visionary design. Dining experiences, spa setups, and even seating plans aren’t optimized for solos. Spaces must be reimagined—private lounges, unshared transfers, spa rituals designed for the luxury of one.
The Travel Industry Keeps Getting Solo Luxury Travel Wrong
Luxury solo travel is accelerating rapidly—yet it remains deeply misunderstood. The solo traveler is still boxed into outdated stereotypes: the solitary executive dining alone or the budget backpacker seeking solitude. Many brands and services mistake solo travel for budget escapism or clichéd “Eat Pray Love”-style journeys popularized by Julia Roberts. The industry has yet to fully embrace this discerning, self-funded, self-directed luxury traveler. Instead, travel brands, hotels, and developers continue to treat solo travel as a temporary anomaly or incomplete experience. This foundational misread leaves well-resourced solo travelers' experiences most times underserved and undervalued. The problem isn’t a lack of resources—it’s a lack of vision, permission, and authority to create luxury rooted in internal freedom. In a world where unapologetically choosing oneself is the ultimate luxury, ignoring this shift is the most costly error a brand can make.
What Defines the Next Era of Luxury Travel—and Why It Matters Now
A Quiet Revolution in Luxury Travel
This is no fleeting trend—it’s a fundamental shift reshaping the luxury travel landscape. An industry built on and around collective experiences is now being caught by surprise by the unmistakable rise of the overlooked solo luxury traveler—because only forward thinkers like Aman (Amangiri), Six Senses (Douro Valley), Golden Door, and Miraval Resorts (Arizona Resort and Spa) saw it coming and have actively adapted. The glaring gap of truly exclusive, adults-only resorts designed specifically for solo travelers is a glaring missed opportunity—a vacuum ready for visionary brands to fill. Today’s solo traveler isn’t waiting for a companion; they’re waiting for brands bold enough to design exclusively for them. When done right, these travelers don’t just book once—they upgrade, extend, and return repeatedly.
Progressive brands must lean into this revolution and command authority with the demographic now by positioning solo travel not as a compromise for a cliche "finding yourself" trope, but as the ultimate expression of prestige and lifestyle mastery. The solo luxury traveler isn’t following trends—they are the trend. Leveraging expert solo travel consultants and authentic solo travel content creators unlocks insider access to this elite market. Travel brands and services that lead will secure their future positioning by building individual luxury experiences that honor the luxury of one—framing it as the deliberate status choice and cultural shift setting the standard for what luxury means next.
Stop Treating Solo Travel Like “Option B”
Despite a seismic shift in traveler expectations, the travel industry remains tethered to volume-driven strategies—prioritizing reach over resonance. Today's luxury travel advisors excel at logistics—room assignments, itineraries, schedules—but often fall short in emotional intelligence, failing to capture the nuanced energy a solo traveler seeks. They prioritize efficiency over the intentional solitude that define solo travel’s rising significance. To take the lead with this collective, hospitality brands and travel services must transcend transactional hospitality and embrace an emotionally intelligent, identity-aligned approach—crafting experiences that speak not just to solo travelers, but to the unique individual behind the journey.
The Expensive Oversight: Missing the Solo Luxury Traveler Opportunity
Overlooking the discerning solo traveler is a costly misstep few brands can afford if they want continued long term positioning throughout this decade and beyond. These affluent solo luxury travelers no longer conform to traditional travel archetypes. Brands still speaking only in the language of couples or groups are missing out on the opportunity to cultivate enduring loyalty and influence. Winning this audience requires in embedding within their world—anticipating their needs with editorial finesse in language, design, and user experience that feels less commercial pitch and more bespoke invitation.
Aligning with this demographic requires strategic presence in exclusive ecosystems—invite-only memberships, private circles, and intersections with adjacent luxury sectors like bespoke wellness and sensory design. Trust in this sphere is earned quietly, through credible whisper networks rather than loud inauthentic mass appeal influencer noise. This is the part most brands and travel focused companies miss—and the part I know intimately because I've lived it and experienced it.
A New Category of Travel Requires a New Kind of Designer
A Journey Ignited: My Solo Maldives Trip and Business Pivot
Ironically, despite traveling to destinations like Jamaica and the Bahamas with my mother during my teens, a true passion for travel and curating intentional travel experiences didn’t truly captivate me until well into my twenties. One of my most memorable journeys to date is my 2019 trip to Cuba—a carefully crafted masterpiece researched over weeks to perfect every detail: seamless currency exchanges, photographers who create evocative visual poetry, reliable Wi-Fi, and immersive salsa lessons. It was to be my first international solo trip. Though reluctantly modified last minute to accommodate two, the crescendo was a breathtaking 30-foot ocean dive.
When I became aware that a sly coworker—once merely a former acquaintance and travel companion—had quietly replicated some of my itineraries, the message was unmistakable: what I crafted instinctively possessed undeniable allure. That type of admiration, which I’ve been on the receiving end of far too many times, blurs the line between dangerously eerie and flattering, yet somehow, I found it incredibly empowering. It reaffirmed why I choose to travel solo—the unfiltered freedom to chart my own course and create memories that remain pure, untouched by transient company, with every experience truly my own.
And so, ideas emerged like whispered secrets in an exclusive airport lounge, heralding the birth of a travel experience business ready to take flight.
Before founding The Greatest Assist, I booked a last-minute solo trip to the Maldives to mark a milestone birthday. It was my first ever solo journey beyond North America—an intricate venture deep into the atolls, especially amid a global pandemic.The trip, booked just 30 days out, revealed a striking truth: while luxury was abundant and I was well looked after by a gracious private butler, intentional design for solo travelers was absent, and almost every touchpoint felt unthoughtfully designed for someone traveling alone. Four years after that unforgettable trip, and following the launch of a virtual assistance business in 2022 that touched on—but never fully embraced—travel, my path sharpened with newfound clarity. It was during a moment of quiet reflection at the bustling Hilton Leadership Conference in 2024 that I experienced the same unmistakable realization again. A deepening craving for solitude, combined with the persistent emptiness I sensed across the luxury travel landscape, sparked a profound shift. What emerged wasn’t merely a business pivot—it was a calling whispering to me beneath the noise: to craft exquisitely tailored, elevated experiences for solo travelers, in a realm no one else had yet dared to design for or explore.
Why I Rebranded The Greatest Assist: Centering the Solo Traveler
Why focus on solo luxury travelers? Because no one else is doing it properly. The industry doesn’t know what to do with this particular kind of traveler—but I do, and I’m changing that. I see what others have not: the solo luxury travel experience as it should be. Too often, solo travelers are offered a seat at someone else’s table. I design the entire table around them. This was built for the traveler the industry has been too slow to see coming and adapt to quickly enough.
Unlike conventional travel agents and concierge services that treat solo clients as an afterthought, The Greatest Assist doesn’t simply include solo travelers; it centers them—not as a workaround, not as an exception, but as the main character. Because why wouldn’t you be the main character in your own life—and in something you’re investing both money and the fleeting, nonrenewable asset of time? I architect travel experiences for those who move intentionally alone—those who expect their solitude to feel rich, sensual, and rare. Because when you remove the noise of companionship, what you hear is louder: yourself. That’s the quiet, commanding, privileged essence of solo luxury—being exactly where you want to be, with no one to answer to but yourself.
The Industry’s Blind Spot: Why Solo Luxury Travel Is Underserved
A quick search reveals what solo luxury travelers quietly crave: high-end singles resorts, intimate hotels designed for one, and private escapes to exotic, untouched destinations. And these soloists? They are the most intentional of travelers. They linger longer, surrender to upgrades without hesitation, and spend lavishly on what truly speaks to them. Yet the luxury travel world remains deaf to their unspoken desires. Behind glossy brochures and polished websites, most travel advisors, providers, and concierges still craft generic experiences. They miss the art of designing solitude with elegance—neglecting the emotional intelligence and subtle rituals that transform a trip from mere accommodation into a deeply personal indulgence.
A discerning solo traveler recognizes instantly when an experience wasn’t designed with them in mind. They shouldn’t need to ask, explain, or adjust. It’s in the absence of thoughtful details: the way the table for one is placed too close to the kitchen, how the welcome amenity assumes two guests, or the hesitations in service—if they even let you book at all, like with the Manta Ray excursion at Kuredhivaru Resort & Spa (formerly Mövenpick Maldives Kuredhivaru) that requires a minimum of two guests. These aren’t grand oversights—they’re silent betrayals. The kind only a solo luxury traveler would notice.
Because true luxury is in the unseen and the understanding that comes before a word is spoken—it’s what’s done without needing to be requested. For those who choose to travel alone, there’s no indulgence quite like being fully considered without ever needing to explain or correct. The room, the service, the atmosphere—it should all respond intuitively to one.
A New Standard: Invitation-Only Luxury Travel Design for the Luxury Solo Traveler
What happens when designing for one? You don’t subtract—you compose a rich tapestry of moments. At The Greatest Assist, we don’t just plan trips; we intentionally architect travel experiences for the discerning, affluent solo traveler. This isn’t about selling travel—it’s about a first-of-its-kind, invitation-only luxury travel design house exclusive to luxury solo travelers I relate to. Like a couture atelier, we tailor full-sensory journeys that reflect your identity, lifestyle, and tempo. With care, precision, and elegant restraint, we bring to life experiences that indulge you rather than merely accommodate you, inviting you to savor solitude as the ultimate luxury.
Solo luxury travelers require a different level of mastery and attention few can offer—but The Greatest Assist understands this fully. If you travel without waiting for others, invest thoughtfully in travel, and know that true luxury lives in quiet details and moments, then consider this your sign to experience travel built completely around you. No plus-one needed—just a travel designer who honors the rare value of traveling as one. Presented first and presented finest, The Greatest Assist is the benchmark, setting the new standard.
For travelers:→ Request an invitation
For brands + destinations:→ For brands ready to lead the next chapter of luxury so travel, aligning with the affluent solo traveler is not optional—it’s imperative. And that is precisely where my expertise becomes your strategic advantage.
About the Author
Britnee R. Johnson Private Luxury Travel Suite Architect | Founder & CEO, The Greatest Assist
Britnee R. Johnson, visionary behind The Greatest Assist, the world’s first invitation-only luxury travel design house exclusively for affluent solo travelers, blends refined expertise in luxury travel and experiential marketing to sculpt hyper-personalized, emotionally intelligent experiences.
FEATURED IMAGES BY BRITNEE JOHNSON/THE GREATEST ASSIST
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