32% increase in UK hen dos

Hen and stag experts, chillisauce.com, have analysed their own onsite data to uncover more about the differences for these celebrations after they noticed a continual rise in UK bookings for hen dos.

In the last five years, the team have realised an uplift in UK activity bookings for hen parties across the board by 32%. This contrasts sharply with stag do bookings, where there has been a relative decrease in UK stag bookings, offset by a corresponding increase of 28% in bookings overseas.

This continuing shift now means that while 60% of all stag dos now take place abroad (40% remaining in the UK), compared to 24% of hen parties go abroad (76% remaining in the UK).Wanting to get to the bottom of why this may be the case, the team surveyed over 1,500 UK-residents, all of whom revealed they had attended a hen or stag in the last year.Of those who had been on a hen do, 77% said their celebrations had been UK-based.

When asked to elaborate on what was the main reason for this decision, 49% said it was due to the bride-to-be or someone in the hen party wanting to be 'closer to their children' or having 'childcare concerns', while a further 45% stated it was to save money and 6% said it was easier to have it closer to home.

When asked if there was much child-related talk whilst on the hen do, almost four fifths (78%) said there was, with 82% of these respondents revealing this annoyed them, whether or not they had children of their own.Furthermore, those who attended a stag do were asked whether they did so abroad, with 89% saying this was the case. Asked to specify if childcare came into mind when making the decision on where to go for the stag, 93% said it did not, with over half of all respondents (51%) admitting they wanted to get away from any responsibilities they have at home.

James Baddiley CEO of chillisauce.com, commented on the findings: "After noticing uplift in hen do bookings in the UK we wanted to explore the reasons for this; we were surprised at the results. It's amazing how different the responses were between hens and stags – those going on a hen do deserve time off from any child worries, no matter if they are the bride or just a member of her party. UK stag and hen dos can be just as amazing as those abroad, but childcare should not factor in the decision of where you go to celebrate your last night of freedom."