Valentine singles drop speed dating in favour of partying
by Richard Speigal
Geek Boy
Tuesday, 25th January 2011
Valentine's fortnight has become a huge time for singles looking for some respite from smug couples who've booked every restaurant in town.
Date planners are now gearing up for their busiest time of the year and most firms have finalised their event schedules for February. That means it's a good time to bust out my spreadsheet and see where the industry is going in 2011.
speed dating out, parties in
Our listings this year are showing a large drop in the number of speed dating events over the February period. However there is a big rise in the number of parties and special events. Here's how the schedules look:
| Feb 2010 | Feb 2011 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Speed dating | 271 | 209 | -23% |
| Specials/parties | 16 | 49 | +206% |
This makes a lot of sense for singles: Valentines is a great time to let your hair down and do something special. Single people are putting the serious search for love on hold over a traditional period for coupledom.
However this doesn't fully account for the drop in speed dating.
The dating events market weathered the economic storm very well but that isn't to say it wasn't painless. Average ticket prices for February have continued their rise; our figures show an increase of 5% on last year as hosts stay ahead of the VAT rise, inflation, etc to improve their battered margins. Speed dating tickets in February are now averaging £20.01.
In light of this, a shift to large format events also makes total sense for them. Quite simply, parties with 100-200 guests are more profitable than hosting 30-40 speed daters.
If February is indicative of the rest of the year, expect to see more singles parties in a town near you.
To join the fun, find local dating events and parties here »
topic tags: parties, speed dating, statistics, valentines
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about the author
Richard is the technical brains behind Dating Trail and prefers conversations in binary to real human contact. However he does know some strange things about dating; albeit not from experience (he's asexual like an amoeba) but rather from crunching numbers and peering into databases. He's nerdy but sometimes interesting.
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