Ireland could see a ‘big spike’ in stag and hen parties arriving from the UK next year following Prague’s decision to ban pub crawls.

Organized pub crawls are set to be banned in the Czech capital from 10 pm until 6 am in a bid to curb noise pollution in the city.

According to UK stag and hen do experts, StagWeb.co.uk and GoHen.com, this could result in many partiers looking to Ireland for their big pre-wedding celebrations in 2025.

“Post-pandemic, we saw a big drop-off in people heading to Eastern Europe in favour of Spanish and Irish destinations and that will almost certainly increase in 2025 following Prague’s decision to ban organised pub crawls,” said Jon Stainer, Creative Director at StagWeb and GoHen.

“Initially, the war in Ukraine was causing a lot of uncertainty in the region and saw people looking elsewhere but we were expecting travel to return to the region in 2025.

“However, introducing a pub crawl ban is a statement for stags and hens to think twice about heading to Prague and we expect even more to turn to Spain and Ireland next year.

“Whether it’s Dublin, Cork, Galway or elsewhere, Ireland is known for its vibrant nightlife and welcoming atmosphere and is perfectly positioned to benefit economically from this.

“In 2019, Prague was our most popular destination by far but has since dropped off with Dublin rising above it as our 3rd most popular destination.”

UK Stag and Hen parties have been a growing trend in Ireland, with Dublin seeing a 35% increase in popularity from 2019 to 2024 and Cork seeing a 22% increase in popularity over the same period.

Most Popular Destinations for Stag & Hen Parties 2019 vs 2024:

2019

  1. Prague
  2. Hamburg
  3. Benidorm
  4. Lisbon
  5. Berlin
  6. Dublin
  7. Budapest
  8. Amsterdam
  9. Barcelona
  10. Krakow

2024

  1. Benidorm
  2. Albufeira
  3. Dublin
  4. Lisbon
  5. Barcelona
  6. Berlin
  7. Prague
  8. Amsterdam
  9. Krakow
  10. Budapest