Tour and coach operators have their say on single supplements

The approach taken by tour operator Simply Groups is to find out early on how many single occupancy rooms a group requires so they can approach suitable hotels.

Director Shauna Potts said: “Many hotels will cap single usage or apply hefty supplements, which is where our knowledge of the accommodation sector comes to the fore. Encouraging groups to be flexible with their travel dates to coincide with the hotel’s availability, often increases the number of singles we can offer and keeps any supplement to a minimum. Some groups insist on doubles for sole use and do not want single specific rooms.”

“As an understanding tour operator we always do our best to obtain the maximum single/sole occupancy rooms possible on all of our tours if they are required.”

Phil Westwood, Dunwood Travel

Shauna can also see the hotels’ perspective and told us: “It is understandable that hotels need to impose a charge when a room is under occupied e.g. double for single use, as there is always a revenue factor which the hotel needs to achieve.

“There has to be a compromise however, as often groups will book out of season or dates coinciding with the hotel’s availability, therefore filling gaps and increasing the occupancy of the hotel during quieter periods.”

Phil Westwood, director of Dunwood Travel said they feel single supplements will always be an issue with hoteliers, but that they see two sides of the debate.

He said: “Hoteliers obviously want the most revenue for their hotels and by using rooms for sole use this prevents them from filling their accommodation to full capacity. Groups also see this as discrimination towards their single passengers, stating it is not their fault they are widow/widowed or have a medical condition where they cannot share a room.”

“Encouraging groups to be flexible with their travel dates to coincide with the hotel’s availability, often increases the number of singles we can offer and keeps any supplement to a minimum.”

Shauna Potts, Simply Groups

Phil added: “Dunwood are both sympathetic and understanding when discussing this topic, but it does always depend on the type of group we are dealing with and their initial thoughts on the single supplements and difference in cost of sole use rooms, once single rooms are all sold.

“We do tend to offer various options; whereas supplements are shared between every passenger on the tour, shared between just single travellers or supplements are paid for out of free places allocated to the group booking. As an understanding tour operator we always do our best to obtain the maximum single/sole occupancy rooms possible on all of our tours if they are required.

“Dunwood do source holidays where we offer unlimited single rooms and these are always excellent to offer to solo groups.”