Shared EMIs, shared housework, heavy lifting, apocalyptic uteruses… there are plenty of reasons why people marry. Double room tariffs is not one of them. But consider this: an 8N/9D Wonders of Europe summer package on MakeMyTrip costs ₹1,44,990 per person for couples and ₹1,75,990 for a solo traveller — a steep single supplement of ₹31,000 or 20-odd per cent. A sum that can easily pay for another weekend of temporary bliss in peak-season Leh or pocket-friendly Bangkok.

MakeMyTrip is not alone. Singling out single travellers is a common industry practice. One that is about as irritating for single-income, multiple-destination wander-lusters, as couples canoodling in public Jacuzzis on a cruise. Or finding a pair of towel swans on the bed after flying thousands of miles to put time and distance between them and their recently acquired exes. Short of hanging a ‘stags and dogs are not allowed’ sign, travel operators, hotels and cruises appear to pull out all stops to keep singletons at home.

The raison d’être: it doesn’t make business sense to give to one what could easily serve two. Costs of real estate and housekeeping for a single or a double room at a hotel remain the same whether one person or two occupy the space. But in a country where half the urban population is unmarried — the 2011 Census identifies about 50 per cent of urban Indians as ‘never married’ (not counting the widowed, divorced or separated) — shouldn’t the sheer volume of prospective single customers count for something?

Thomas Cook (India) has already reported a growth of about 35 per cent in the new emerging segment of singles. “While the source market is primarily Tier I metros, we’ve seen a delightful diversity of segments — be it from the youth of Gen Y, young corporate executives and now interestingly, women travellers too,” says Shibani Phadkar, senior VP and head, Leisure Travel (Outbound) Products, Contracting, Operations & Tour Management. And while it might be too early to trace a pattern in their preferences, Phadkar finds that single travellers tend to seek the security of cities (Singapore is a clear favourite) and choose short-haul or weekend trips more often. Also, the younger they are, the more open they seem to be to the idea of sharing rooms, especially on international trips.

Mumbai-based Yogi and Suchna Shah, who started The Backpacker Co in 2004 to take the Indian tourist beyond ‘Rome maa ras and Paris maa puri,’ have relied heavily on single travellers of a younger demographic. But unlike their Backpacker customers who wouldn’t bat an eyelid if they had to triple- or even quad-share rooms in hostels or pensiones in Europe, travellers who sign up for their more upmarket, personalised holidays, or The Villa Escape, can be more demanding.

“Often we try and match the credentials, interests, gender, etcetera, of single travellers who choose our villa escapes to help them cut costs by sharing a room — although there’s no 100 per cent guarantee that they will get along,” says Yogi Shah. Other travel agencies, which offer specialised group tours, such as Cosmos or Women on Wanderlust, also offer similar ‘matchmaking’ services. But aren’t roommates what one leaves behind along with the hand-me-down guitar in college? “Yes, at times we’ve had solo travellers who insisted on having a room to themselves. But the profile of our customers is such that they know what single supplements are and are willing to pay it,” says Shah.

That singletons are resigned to compensating for their marital status — even in the low or shoulder seasons, when hoteliers are swatting flies and restaurateurs are still serving soups that can be split one into two — is tragic indeed. But perhaps they should seek comfort in the fact that, historically, single travellers have had to settle for far worse. Jeanne Baret, the first woman (disguised as a man) to circumnavigate the world (1766-69) and discover botanical treasures, has barely made it to the footnotes of history; Joshua Slocum, the first man to singlehandedly sail around the world, was lost at sea in 1909; more recently, Dominick Arduin, the first woman to ski alone to the North Pole, drowned in a crevice somewhere in the Siberian ice fields in 2004… And we haven’t even mentioned Tintin and Pluto.

Typically, single travellers in India are just that — single or unmarried. But god forbid you’re a solo traveller who happens to be married and a woman, you won’t have to wait for an airline to lose your baggage to lose your wits. A travel agency we called this week insisted on a No Objection Certificate from the husband for married women (not for married men) travelling alone to Europe, US, Australia or New Zealand. Africa and South America are less discerning, it appears. So dear intrepid solo traveller, pack your bags and head to the bottom of the world. Alone.

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