La Story (Les Echos) Analysis: 'Co-voyage' Encourages Solo Travel—A New Trend of Traveling with Strangers
August 3, 2026
Overview
The latest episode of La Story, a daily podcast from the French economic newspaper Les Echos, is the first in a five-part series on summer vacations. It explores the desire to travel alone and the emerging trend of 'co-voyage' (collaborative travel) that serves as a solution.
Co-voyage is a term modeled after carpooling (covoiturage), referring to a system where strangers travel together. Also known as a 'co-trip,' it is a new form of group travel that involves small groups embarking on adventurous journeys. Born in the 2010s, this trend has gained support in France over the past few years as an option for those who cannot quite bring themselves to travel completely alone.
This episode delves into the reality of the solo travel market through the voices of both travelers who have used co-voyage services and the travel agencies that organize them. While know-how videos for solo travel, especially among women, are spreading on social media, the episode also discusses how the market is rapidly becoming structured, with a strong segment choosing 'women-only travel' due to safety concerns.
More people want to travel alone
The program begins by introducing young voices on social media expressing their longing for solo travel. Comments include, 'I want to go on vacation completely alone without worrying about anyone,' and 'The more I watch those videos, the more I want to try it myself.' From weekend trips in France to six-month journeys around Asia, the forms of solo travel are diversifying.
However, many people cannot bring themselves to travel entirely alone. Those people choose co-voyage. The reality is that it is difficult to find someone with the same schedule and travel preferences, and waiting for others' availability means never being able to leave, which serves as the backdrop for this trend.
The experience of Valérie Jarny, who has traveled alone many times
52-year-old Valérie Jarny shares her experience of traveling alone multiple times using Les Co-Voyageurs, one of the pioneers of co-voyage in France. She recalls that she first used the company in 2014.
Her motivation for starting co-voyage was a strong need during a period of loss to 'travel far away and truly change her environment.' She reflects that at the time, she was looking for an environment where she could remain anonymous, and the fact that she did not necessarily have to talk about her personal life made it suitable for traveling with strangers.
Having experienced trekking in Cuba, Kenya, and Madeira, she cites Myanmar—where tours are no longer offered—as her most memorable trip. She says it was good that the group was small, with only five participants. She is scheduled to travel again next month for a trekking trip to Sardinia.
The pros and cons of solo travel versus group travel
Jarny says the appeal of traveling completely alone without an organization lies in being able to move at one's own pace without being tied to a schedule. On the other hand, she admits that as she has aged, solo travel has become slightly more difficult. She specifically mentions the loneliness of eating alone at night and the risk of being alone in unsafe places at night, stating, 'There are moments when I have to put the brakes on for my own sake.'
At the same time, she says she did not feel comfortable with typical package tours, where families tend to stick together. She says the appeal of co-voyage is its freedom: you can experience the trip for yourself while being in a group, you can be alone if you want to be, and you can join the group that has formed if you wish.
There are also friendships born through travel. She says there are people she has organized trips with independently of the company to travel again, and others with whom she continues to stay in touch via WhatsApp.
Experience with a company that promotes 'women-only travel'
Jarny has also used Les Copines de Voyage (Travel Girlfriends), another company that promotes women-only trips. She talks about her experiences traveling to Stockholm, Malta, and the Baltic states, but says that just because it is women-only does not mean it is always smooth; she had an experience where the group split up because some participants were focused on shopping and had different goals.
On the other hand, she says that on the trip to the Baltic states, although the age range was wide—from 30 to 68—it became a very compatible group, and they were able to adjust well, such as everyone matching the pace of the oldest participant. She states that she prefers mixed-gender groups over women-only ones.
The market as described by the founder of pioneer Les Co-Voyageurs
To understand the solo travel market, the program visits Les Co-Voyageurs in Montpellier. Sarah Lopez and Aude Parlebas, who co-founded the company in 2013, talk about their motivations at the time.
The trigger was that when they worked for an adventure travel tour operator, solo participants would always ask the same questions: 'Are there other solo participants? What are their ages? Are they men or women?' They decided to create a specialized travel agency where only solo participants gather, so they wouldn't feel isolated among couples and families. Another motivation was to avoid the burden of single room supplements. By sharing a room with someone of the same sex, this additional fee can be avoided.
The company grew rapidly immediately after opening. At the time, there were no specialized services for solo participants, and they monopolized the market. Currently, they have 14 employees and offer tours for groups of 4 to 14 people, including French-speaking guides, all meals, airfare, and accommodation. In the 13 years since its founding, approximately 20,000 people have traveled through the company.
Customer profile, pricing, and community
According to Lopez, couples cannot sign up for the company. This is to keep the 'promise' that everyone is a customer looking for friendship in the same way. However, she emphasizes that it is not a dating service, explaining that there are also married people who participate alone because their spouses do not travel.
The customer base has an average age of 52, with the core being 35 to 55, about 60% women and 40% men. She says the ratio of women was even higher when the company was founded. As for why there are many women, she cites that there are many women who travel through organizations in the first place, and that for women traveling alone, organized package tours feel safer.
Prices include airfare, accommodation, transfers, sightseeing, meals, and a local French-speaking guide, ranging from 1,000 to 2,000 euros (approx. 180,000 to 360,000 yen; 1 euro = 182.25 yen) for a one-week trip in Europe or medium-haul, and 2,000 to 3,500 euros (approx. 360,000 to 640,000 yen; 1 euro = 182.25 yen) for a two-week long-haul trip to places like Asia. Trips to the Americas are expensive due to airfare, costing 3,000 to 4,000 euros (approx. 550,000 to 730,000 yen; 1 euro = 182.25 yen), and the most expensive is said to be Polynesia.
The company has set up an SNS function on its site, creating a mechanism where people can see who has signed up and interact before departure. There are 100,000 'co-voyageurs' (co-travelers) registered on the site, and since about 50% are repeaters, they often meet familiar faces at their destinations. They offer services in over 90 regions around the world, covering over 300 trips.
Services for single parents and market changes
A few years later, the company also launched a service for single-parent families called Les Petits Co-Voyageurs (Little Co-Travelers). This focused on the fact that there are over 2 million single-parent families in France, and it is said that the point where parents can interact and children can play together has gathered stronger support than the solo segment.
Although they monopolized the market for 6 to 7 years after founding, many specialized companies emphasizing the communal aspect have appeared in recent years, and more are incorporating SNS functions. However, Lopez says that unlike competitors who focus only on the communal aspect, they differentiate themselves by focusing equally on the quality of the trip itself.
Industry expansion and new entry movements
The founders see the solo travel market as promising for the future. In fact, companies with new concepts are entering the market one after another. Italy's WeRoad, founded in 2017 and supported by Airbnb, announced this year that it had raised $58 million (approx. 9.2 billion yen; 1 dollar = 158.00 yen) for expansion into the United States. Australia's Intrepid Travel acquired Altai Group, which partially owns Hello Travel, which in turn owns Les Copines de Voyage and Les Aventureurs, aiming to expand its presence in France.
Hello Travel talks about the evolution of 'women-only travel'
Alexiane Emard, who has just been appointed Vice President of Hello Travel (which bundles Les Copines de Voyage and Les Aventureurs, has about 50 employees, and sends about 15,000 people on trips annually), talks about the changes in this field.
Les Copines de Voyage was founded 10 years ago on the other side of the Atlantic. It is a system for traveling around the world in groups of 3 to 10 women, and the formats are diverse, from hotel-stay types to 2-3 week touring types. Emard emphasizes that the target is not single women. She explains that the customers are women who, even if they are married, have children, or have many friends, decide on their own that 'I want to go on the trip I want to go on without waiting for others' convenience.'
In the background is the demand for safety. In France, 1 in 2 people have experienced solo travel and prefer it, and that ratio is even higher for women; while two-thirds of women want to travel alone, they have a much stronger tendency than men to choose 'women-only' due to safety considerations.
Les Aventureurs, which targets both men and women, offers trips with a strong sense of adventure that go further and off the beaten path. In groups of up to 12 people, the participants are slightly younger, about 60% are women, and many are experienced travelers.
From 'Plan B' to 'Active Choice'
Emard states that the average age of Les Copines de Voyage customers is now 37, which is 10 years older than when it was founded. There is no typical image of being married or a mother, the average purchase price is about 2,200 euros (approx. 400,000 yen; 1 euro = 182.25 yen), and the average length of a trip is 9 days. There are customers up to 70 years old, and along with that, a shift toward a slightly more high-end route is progressing.
Over the past year and a half, she has worked on a fundamental overhaul of the service, based on the realization that the idea of 'traveling in a group' alone was no longer sufficient for the market. It was a shift in perspective: people do not seek groups because they are alone, but rather they set off with compatible companions out of a desire to travel. To reposition 'co-voyage' from a 'Plan B' for when one cannot travel alone to an 'active choice' to have this experience or discover this country, she says they revamped 40% of their offerings in less than a year.
As part of this, they expanded the 'Les Éclaireuses' (Female Pioneers) series aimed at those seeking immersive tours, which now accounts for 70% of their customers. Emard states that 'today's women are multifaceted, and a single woman has multiple desires,' and explains that they are moving toward semi-customized offerings to meet diverse wishes, such as modern thalassotherapy on an Italian island in April or a cycling and homestay trip in Vietnam in November.
Summer 2026 Outlook and Friendships Formed
Regarding the summer of 2026, Emard acknowledges that the tourism industry was hit by inflation, fuel prices, and the situation in the Middle East, reflecting on it as a particularly difficult year in terms of operations. However, business was good at the beginning of the year in January and February, and the entire industry has been recovering since June; the company saw bookings grow by more than 25% year-on-year in the first three weeks of June. She notes that with last-minute bookings being the norm, they were able to make up for the delays in summer departures, which also served as a lead-up to a promising autumn.
Finally, as an example of the friendships formed over the past decade, the story of Magali, a customer since almost the very beginning, is introduced. The person she met on her first trip to Bali became her best friend and even served as a witness at her wedding. Since then, Magali has participated in the company's trips more than 20 times, decided to change careers into the tourism industry, and now helps with small tasks for the company.
According to Emard, Hello Travel is also working on 'Kids Friendly' services to enable mothers to travel alone with their children.
▶ Previous entry in this series: La Story (Les Echos) Commentary: How Online Banks Are Changing the French Banking Map—Boursobank, Revolut, Trade Republic https://note.com/yondo/n/n09ac48902a25
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