Female-Founded FTLO Travel Marks 10 Years of Growth as Go-To Group Travel Company Among Solo Travelers in Their 20s and 30s

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May 04, 2026, 08:54 ET

This community-driven travel brand with a cult following has grown to 200+ trips a year and created a way to make new friends as an adult.

LOS ANGELES, May 4, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Ten years ago, Tara Cappel couldn't find a group travel company built for people like her: young professionals who wanted to explore the world but hadn't found the right people to go with. So she built one.

Now, a decade after launching with three trips, her company, FTLO Travel — For the Love of Travel — has grown into the most in-demand group travel brand exclusively for solo travelers ages 25–39, running over 200 trips a year across six continents.

FTLO Travel (For the Love of Travel) is a premium group travel company designed for solo travelers in their mid 20s through 30s who want meaningful experiences, built-in community, and thoughtfully curated itineraries. FTLO's top rated trips combine cultural immersion, local food and drink, and social connection, all led by expert trip leaders who bring destinations to life.

As Americans look for ways to combat loneliness and build social connections, FTLO Travel's group trips for young professionals offer a way to make new friends while exploring the world. FTLO's community of thousands of loyal travelers is proof that sometimes all it takes is booking the trip.

The brand, which has grown largely organically, has the type of cult following most companies spend millions trying to manufacture. In fact, 75% of FTLO's 2026 bookings are from repeat travelers or word-of-mouth. The company also has a 79 NPS and more than 4,000 five-star reviews across TrustPilot and Google.

A New Category: Social Solo Travel for Young Professionals
FTLO's core differentiator is its premium experience tailored to how solo travelers in their late 20s and 30s want to travel. By focusing on the needs of this niche demographic, FTLO has designed every trip detail around what matters to them — from a trip flow that naturally brings groups together, to exclusive experiences and hand-selected trip leaders. It's the kind of focus that generalist operators can't replicate, and why FTLO travelers don't just return… they bring their friends.

"Before starting FTLO, nobody was building specifically for my generation, so I set out to create a brand that hyper-focused on the social desires and travel style of millennials and Gen Zers who wanted to travel solo, but not alone," said Cappel.

Each itinerary intentionally balances group activities with free time, fosters genuine connection and includes experiences that are hard for travelers to find on their own. The company also advocates for mindful tourism and works with small businesses to ensure tourism dollars stay in local communities.

At the Forefront of Current Trends
Solo travel is one of the fastest-growing segments in the travel industry, while the desire for genuine, in-person community has never been stronger. Making friends as an adult has become one of the most universally felt challenges of modern life.

FTLO has spent a decade positioning group travel as a way to build that community. With 80% of travelers signing up solo and the majority leaving with friendships forged across eight days of shared experiences, FTLO is a major source of meaningful connection. Sometimes, it even leads to romance: 55% of FTLO travelers say they are looking to travel with other singles.

"Our trips fast-track friendship in a unique way because of the time you spend together in a short period," said Cappel. "The heightened experiences open people up in ways everyday life doesn't. People have met friends and life partners, and there are even FTLO babies running around!"

While FTLO set out to build a better group travel experience, it may have also built the best way to meet people in your 30s.

What's Next
In the first quarter of 2026, FTLO launched trips to four new destinations: Baja, Sevilla & Mallorca, French Wine Country and New Zealand, with five new destinations slated for 2027 as demand for curated solo and group travel experiences continues to rise.

For Cappel, the ten-year milestone is less about the numbers and more about what they represent. "I started FTLO because I believed travel is a powerful catalyst for connection and understanding in the world," she said. "Ten years in, I couldn't be prouder of what we're building."

For more information and FTLO Travel's trip calendar, visit www.ftlotravel.com.

About FTLO Travel
FTLO Travel — For the Love of Travel — is the go-to group travel company for solo travelers in their late 20s and 30s. Founded in 2016 by Tara Cappel, FTLO runs small-group, curated international trips for travelers ages 25–39 that combine one-of-a-kind experiences, genuine social connection, and the freedom of logistics taken care of. FTLO is rated 5/5 on Google and 4.9/5 on Trustpilot and is one of the highest-rated group travel companies in the world.
www.ftlotravel.com | @ftlotravel

Media Contact
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SOURCE FTLO Travel