Galway ‘leapfrogs’ Las Vegas as top stag and hen party hotspot

Sin City was once viewed as the ultimate bachelor party paradise, which grew tenfold after the release of 2009 comedy The Hangover, which takes place in the Nevada location.

However, demand for stag and hen dos in the US hotspot has seemingly gone bust and is now “non-existent”, according to one of the UK and Ireland’s leading bachelor party providers.

And UK-based company Last Night of Freedom have revealed that Galway has officially dethroned Vegas as a stag favourite, with bookings doubling since before the pandemic.

“A decade ago, you would have been laughed out the room for suggesting Galway would get more stags than Vegas, but that’s now happened,” Matt Mavir, Managing Director of Last Night of Freedom, told sundayworld.com.

“Vegas is definitely now a bit of a fallen giant, but Galway is fast emerging as a big player with stags and hens who basically want the complete opposite of what Vegas represents – big, bright and brash.”

Matt added that recent trends show that stag and hen groups are in search of more low-key destinations instead of places to let loose these days.

“Once upon a time, stags and hens were all about descending on a big city for a few days of boozy raucous fun, but they’ve evolved a lot in recent years,” he said.

“Groups now want so much more – some still want to just drink, but many see it as a chance to bond or to simply enjoy some R&R with the people that matter.

“That’s why Galway is in many ways the perfect modern stag and hen destination – it can offer all of these, while unlike a lot of the major destinations, it will also still feel exciting and new.”

Matt continued: “Our bookings to Galway have doubled since the pandemic and it is getting more and more popular.

“We have already taken as many bookings for Galway this year as we did in the whole of 2019, and it is barely March.

“It is definitely emerging as a real alternative destination to Dublin.”