- Mancation
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A mancation is a male-only vacation.
Contents
Travel industry trend
The concept of a gender specific trip has "been around since the first caveman took his club and went hunting with the others in the tribe."[1] Yet, mancation has become a buzzword in the travel business lately. Tapping into the success of marketing all-girls getaway packages, hotels and resorts have started featuring all-male bonding vacation packages that include everything from poker, to extreme sports, to spa treatments.[2] Golfing is the most popular activity for all-male vacation groups,[3] but destinations have developed unique programs to accommodate the growing trend. The latest mancation packages offer spiritual healing, culinary instruction, yoga, and sexual reawakening.[2]
In promoting mancations, some organizers "have discovered that men tend to create ‘micro affinity groups’ in childhood, college, or grad school, and that the groups often take trips together." [4] According to one online survey,[1] about 34% of male respondents take at least one mancation every year. It is estimated that about 20 million American men go on mancations every year and collectively spend between $10 billion to $12 billion during these excursions. [1] The majority of these men are married and between the ages of thirty to fifty-five years old. [2]
During the summer of 2006, half of the Fairmont Hotel chain’s 50 properties in the United States created mancation packages. For example, the Fairmont Chicago mancation package consists of a three-course steak dinner, a cocktail seminar, whiskey tasting, cigars, and poker. [5]
A 2008 study conducted by Synovate research company showed that 42% of men have taken a mancation, and 42% would like to in the future. Of men surveyed, more than 2/3 chose a bourbon-themed trip over a luxury getaway to a destination like Las Vegas.[6] Jim Beam Kentucky Straight Bourbon and Knob Creek Straight Bourbon Whiskey used the statistics to promote a guys' trip to the Bourbon Trail in Kentucky for National Bourbon Heritage Month, occurring annually in September.
Entertainment
As of April 2007, New Line Cinema and Benderspink have agreed to produce a comedy written by Jared Bush entitled Mancation. The movie will follow a man who believes his younger brother’s manhood has been robbed by marriage. In an attempt to regain this manhood, he takes his little brother on a "testerone-filled ‘mancation.’" [7] Illegal "Mexicans" drinking and destroying the Chalet has been hinted at as an interesting subplot.
Word etymology
No one is sure where this came from, but was it was used at least as early as the early '90s[citation needed].
During the summer of 2006, the word grew quite popular as actor Vince Vaughn used it in the romantic comedy The Break-Up, stating: "I’m excited. I look at it like I’m on a mancation." [5]
In 2009, a group of friends chronicled their Croatian vacation on the website croatianmancation.com. Offering bios, blogs, and itineraries of the trip this site has been duplicated by many other groups as a celebration of the mancation. Sites often use the prefix man- to describe many of the mancation related activities or adjectives such as, man-dancing, man-tastic, or man-nasty.
Other slang terms associated with these getaways for groups of men are "mancursions" or "fellas trips". [3] Urbandictionary.com has their own twist on the "mancation" called the "fellas trip". It defines a "fellas trip" as:
"A guys only vacation. It's a trip where you invite your closest, most trustworthy male friends that may end up in a little debauchery. Could be a ski trip, golf trip, rock climbing, a bachelor party, sporting event, or a trip to a destination hot spot like Miami, Brazil, Dominican Republic, Amsterdam, or Las Vegas."
i.e.: "The guys from the movie The Hangover went on a fellas trip to Las Vegas for the bachelor party celebration."
Another variation is "Man Trip" a term used by the website ManTripping.com [2], which focuses solely on promoting ideas for places to go and things to do on mancations and guys weekends. Additional the site is a community and repository of mancation stories from guys around the world. Examples of other types of trip can be found with the addage "what goes on tour, stays on tour" wgot.co.uk
References
- ^ a b Clark, Jayne. "Need to get away? Make it a guy thing; Male bonding goes to the next level: ‘Mancations’", USA Today, Dec. 29. 2006.
- ^ a b c Morago, Greg. "BOYS GONE WILD; TIME OFF NO LONGER A TIMEOUT FOR FUN-LOVING GUYS", Hartford Courant, Dec. 31, 2006.
- ^ a b Shattuck, Harry. "Hang out with your buds on men-only ‘mancation’", The Houston Chronicle, Jan. 21, 2007.
- ^ Lebovits, Susan Chaityn. "Fly a MiG? Swim with sharks? They're In!", The Boston Globe, Feb. 27, 2007.
- ^ a b Pellizzari, Chris. "MEN ON VACATION; Hotels and resorts are now offering guys the perfect mancations", Chicago Tribune, Oct. 5, 2006.
- ^ "Jim Beam and Knob Creek Bourbons Celebrate National Bourbon Heritage Month with a Bourbon Inspired Mancation" (Press release). Beam Global Spirits & Wine. 2008-08-04. http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/080804/aqm010.html?.v=61. Retrieved 2008-08-07. "Male Bonding Booms with Affordable Guys' Getaway Options; 64 Percent of Men Prefer Kentucky's Bourbon Trail over 'Vegas-type' Experience for Guys' Weekend."
- ^ McNary, Dave. "New Line, Bush take a 'Mancation'", Daily Variety, April 18, 2007.
Categories:- Holiday-related topics
- Types of travel
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