Solo travellers are becoming a major force in the luxury safari sector with new data from Go2Africa showing this is the only traveller demographic to grow year-on-year in 2026. Solo traveling grew by 16% in 2026, outperforming every other demographic including families, couples and groups of friends, which all saw a nominal decrease in representation.
Solo travellers tend to plan their trips far in advance and have a clear destination and itinerary in mind. Generally, their stays are shorter but their spending per person is higher.
The trend reflects a broader global rise in solo travel. Worldwide interest in solo travel has increased by 230% in the past 10 years according to the Go2Africa report. Interest in solo travel reached record levels in 2026 with more than 1.6 million searches for “solo travel” in January alone.
The findings revealed that the most popular safari destinations for solo travellers were Tanzania (17%), Kenya (15%) and South Africa (14%) while Madagascar (380%), Malawi (170%) and Zambia (116%) have seen the biggest growth.
More than half of solo safari travellers come from the US (55%). Not only is it the dominant market source but the US is also one of the fastest-growing. Generally, interest in solo travel is strong across key English-speaking markets, specifically Australia (10%), Canada (%7) and the UK (%5).
