A mancation is a male-only

vacation A vacation (American English) or holiday (British English) is either a leave of absence from a regular job or an instance of leisure travel away from home. People often take a vacation during specific holiday observances or for specific festi ...

. The term is believed to have come about in the 2000s, although the concept had existed considerably before then.

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."Clark, Jayne
"Need to get away? Make it a guy thing; Male bonding goes to the next level: ‘Mancations’"
USA Today, Dec. 29. 2006. 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 Poker is a family of comparing card games in which players wager over which hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, however in some places the rules may vary. While the earliest known form of the game w ...

, to

extreme sports Action sports, adventure sports or extreme sports are activities perceived as involving a high degree of risk. These activities often involve speed, height, a high level of physical exertion and highly specialized gear. Extreme tourism overl ...

, to

spa treatment A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (and sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa towns or spa resorts (including hot springs resorts) typically offer various health treatments, which are also known as balneothe ...

s.Morago, Greg
"BOYS GONE WILD; TIME OFF NO LONGER A TIMEOUT FOR FUN-LOVING GUYS"
Hartford Courant, December 31, 2006. Golfing is the most popular activity for all-male vacation groups, but destinations have developed unique programs to accommodate the growing trend. The latest mancation packages offer spiritual healing, culinary instruction, yoga, and sexual reawakening. 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." According to one online survey, 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. The majority of these men are married and between the ages of thirty to fifty-five years old. 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. A 2008 study conducted by the Synovate research firm showed that 42% of men have taken a mancation, and 42% would like to in the future. The

Jim Beam Jim Beam is an American brand of bourbon whiskey produced in Clermont, Kentucky, by Beam Suntory. It is one of the best-selling brands of bourbon in the world. Since 1795 (interrupted by Prohibition), seven generations of the Beam family have be ...

and Knob Creek bourbon brands used the statistics to promote a guys' trip to the Bourbon Trail in Kentucky for

National Bourbon Heritage Month National Bourbon Heritage Month is an observance in the United States that calls for celebration of bourbon as America's "Native Spirit" during the month of September. On August 2, 2007, the US Senate declared September 2007 as "National Bourbon He ...

, occurring annually in September.

Etymology

During the summer of 2006, actor

Vince Vaughn Vincent Anthony Vaughn (born March 28, 1970) is an American actor. Vaughn began acting in the late 1980s, appearing in minor television roles before attaining wider recognition with the 1996 comedy-drama film '' Swingers''. He has appeared in ...

said it in the romantic comedy film ''

The Break-Up ''The Break-Up'' is a 2006 American Romance film, romantic comedy-drama film directed by Peyton Reed, starring Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston. It was written by Jay Lavender and Jeremy Garelick from a story by them and Vaughn, and produced by U ...

'', written by Jay Lavender and

Jeremy Garelick Jeremy Garelick (born November 30, 1975) is an American screenwriter, director, and producer. Early life Garelick was born in New York City. He attended Yale University and graduated with degrees in Film and Theater. He is of Jewish background. ...

, stating: "I’m excited. I look at it like I’m on a mancation."Pellizzari, Chris. "MEN ON VACATION; Hotels and resorts are now offering guys the perfect mancations", Chicago Tribune, October 5, 2006. In April 2007, New Line Cinema and Benderspink

green-lit To green-light is to give permission to proceed with a project. The term is a reference to the green traffic signal, indicating "go ahead". Film industry In the context of the film and television industries, to green-light something is to ...

a comedy written by

Jared Bush Jared Bush (born June 12, 1974) is an American screenwriter, producer and director. He is best known for co-directing and co-writing the Walt Disney Animation Studios film ''Zootopia'' (2016), writing the film '' Moana'' (2016) and directing and ...

entitled ''Mancation'', which follows 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 "testosterone-filled 'mancation.'"McNary, Dave
"New Line, Bush take a 'Mancation'"
Daily Variety, April 18, 2007. Other slang terms associated with getaways for groups of men are "mancursions", "man trips" or "fellas trips".Shattuck, Harry. "Hang out with your buds on men-only ‘mancation’", The Houston Chronicle, January 21, 2007.

References

External links

*{{Wiktionary-inline, mancation Holidays Types of travel Neologisms