Who benefits from the idea that travel companions are always the basis of a destination choice?
Often, the selection process is much more prosaic, dictated by non-negotiable needs or external constraints.
The motivation for the trip can make the influence of companions almost nonexistent, as in a funeral or a medical emergency.
If my aunt needs to go to the hospital in Stuttgart, no one chooses the destination; companions are there out of duty, not by collective deliberation.