Single-Traveler Business Appears To Be Growing

Organizations to help single travelers find compatible companions appear to be growing in number.

The services help avoid the single supplement (an added fee for occupying a hotel room or cruiseship cabin by one’s self) and find companionship for unescorted trips.

This business has a high casualty rate, so this column does not include brand-new enterprises. Information exchanges such as these need a broad base of clients, and must sustain themselves while collecting members. Then, paradoxically, if the agencies make successful matches, happy travelers may drop out.

Jens Jergen, who has been in the business for some time, says at least half of his clients are “looking for Mr. or Ms. Right,” in addition to traveling companions.

Fees may reduce somewhat the hazards apparent in answering personal advertisements in magazines. But organizations cannot control memberships, and confidence artists abound. Proceed with caution.

Golden Companions, begun in 1987 in Pullman, Wash., limits its membership to people 45 and older. It was moved to Reno by its new owner, Jeanne Lauf Walpole.

The organization has 500 members who pay $85 a year, Walpole said. She publishes six newsletters a year in which members are identified by number, and sometimes by first name, plus their home area. Walpole forwards letters until the participants decide to communicate directly.

Golden Companions, Post Office Box 5249, Reno, Nev. 89513; (702) 324-2227, fax (702) 324-2236.

Connecting, based in Vancouver, British Columbia, has 3,000 subscribers, 90 percent of whom are Canadian, according to Diane Redfern, the publisher. She has been publishing a 16-page newsletter six times a year for more than five years. Membership includes a directory of “singlefriendly” accommodations, cross-references to publications, tours and such.

In her newsletter, Redfern prints articles, tips about trips, items for those traveling by wheelchair and listings of events. In the back are classified ads. Those seeking companions contain a first name only and a phone number or address. There are also “hospitality exchanges” - offers by members to accommodate travelers in their homes. Six issues and a directory cost $25.

Connecting, P.O Box 29088, Delamont Postal Outlet, 1996 West Broadway, Vancouver, B.C. V6J 5C2, Canada; telephone and fax (604) 737-7791.

Vacation Partners uses a questionnaire rather than a newsletter. The company began in 1993, according to Manny Segall, the proprietor, a former travel agent, who says he now has 250 members. They are nationwide, he said, but mostly in Illinois, where the company is situated, and Tennessee, where he has received publicity. Most have graduated from college, range from 28 to 48 years old and want companions for foreign travel.

After receiving a profile in which participants rate their interests on a scale of 1 to 5, Segall computerizes the information and sends the applicant a chart showing his or her replies and those of four anonymous potential companions. Should each party pick the other as a possibility, the phone numbers are sent. If no one suits, another set of four will be sent. Eventually, Segall said, he plans to charge for a third set but right now he will send it free. The fee is $50 a year.

Vacation Partners, 853 Sanders Road, Suite 272, Northbrook, Ill. 60062; (708) 205-2008, fax (708) 205-4401.

Partners-in-Travel in Los Angeles, founded 15 years ago, is one of the two long-established companion-finder groups. Miriam Tobolowsky, the owner, said the business was cutting into her own travel, so she has reduced her output of newsletters to one and a supplement each year and now charges $25 a year.

For the fee, members receive a directory of other people seeking a travel companion, identified by first names and mail addresses, or phone numbers; the January issue had 500 names, she said. Members submit profiles of 50 words. An update is issued midyear.

Partners-in-Travel, 11660 Chenault Street, Apartment 119, Los Angeles, Calif. 90049; (310) 476-4869. Be aware there is no answering machine and Tobolowsky travels frequently, so you may not get an answer.)

Travel Companion Exchange, the other oldie but goodie, is the newsletter for “single, divorced and widowed travelers” that has been published for more than 13 years. The newsletter contains a hodge-podge of information on places to go, travel tips, articles by subscribers, listings of “single-friendly resorts” and the like, along with listings of 500 people wanting to meet others. These are sorted by the first digit in the ZIP code. First names or nicknames are used and the company relays the message.

Travel Companion says it has 2,500 active members, plus 500 “subscribers” who just want to read articles. The membership price is $99 for eight months; a subscription without an entry is $48 a year. A subscription begins with five or six back issues. A sample copy is $5.

Travel Companion Exchange, Post Office Box 833, Amityville, N.Y. 11701; (800) 392-1256 from the United States or (516) 454-0880.