- Region
- Vega baja
- Marina Alta
- Marina Baixa
- Alicante
- Baix Vinalopo
- Alto & Mitja Vinalopo
-
ALL TOWNS
- ALICANTE TOWNS
- Albatera
- Alfaz Del Pi
- Alicante City
- Alcoy
- Almoradi
- Benitatxell
- Bigastro
- Benferri
- Benidorm
- Calosa de Segura
- Calpe
- Catral
- Costa Blanca
- Cox
- Daya Vieja
- Denia
- Elche
- Elda
- Granja de Rocamora
- Guardamar del Segura
- Jacarilla
- Los Montesinos
- Orihuela
- Pedreguer
- Pilar de Horadada
- Quesada
- Rafal
- Redovan
- Rojales
- San Isidro
- Torrevieja
- Comunidad Valenciana
- EDITIONS: Spanish News Today Murcia Today Andalucia Today
article_detail
Date Published: 14/04/2023
ARCHIVED - Mayhem warning as Benidorm prepares for British stag do invasion ahead of busiest summer ever
The Costa Blanca resort is an increasingly popular choice for bachelor parties, according to industry insiders
Benidorm is bracing itself for an invasion of British bachelors this weekend – ahead of what one expert believes will be the Spanish resort’s busiest summer ever.
Stag party bookings to the tourist haven have rocketed by 700% in recent years, with British tourists lured in by the prospect of cheap alcohol and sunshine.
And this weekend, April 14-16, demand for pre-wedding jaunts to Benidorm are so high, the resort is set to host more stags than the rest of Spain combined.
And exclusive travel industry data shows that, this year, Benidorm is “comfortably on course” to leapfrog the likes of Prague and Dublin and be crowned the EU’s biggest bachelor party hotspot.
It comes as a leading UK stag party provider has warned locals there to brace themselves for “mayhem” this weekend due to the unprecedented number of groups flying into the Costa Blanca.
“On a good weekend in April, we might see 30 or 40 groups heading to Benidorm. This weekend we are hosts around 100 different groups – this weekend, we are expecting almost 120,” said Matt Mavir, Managing Director of Last Night of Freedom.
“That’s an astronomical number for this time of the year, and it means Benidorm’s bars, restaurants and hotels are going to be packed to the rafters.
“Demand for trips to Benidorm this year is simply off-the-charts – we have never seen a year like it.
“It is outselling the likes of Prague, Dublin and everywhere else in the EU, and is comfortably on course to be the biggest stag party destination outside of the UK by the end of 2023.”
Data supplied by the UK firm shows that, compared to 2019 – the last year before covid restrictions caused havoc across the travel sector – stag bookings to Benidorm were up 87.5 per cent last year.
However last year’s record was already shattered by mid-March. So far, sales have already exceeded last years total number of bookings by 30 per cent.
And according to the firm’s ‘Freedometer’, which collates industry booking data each week to predict how busy each destination will be, the resort will stage more stags this weekend than Amsterdam, Budapest and Barcelona.
And the widget warns: “The stags are ready - you will certainly get caught up in the mayhem if you venture out this weekend.”
It comes after Last Night of Freedom’s boss told Spanish authorities to stop trying to outlaw boozy bachelor parties as it was “backfiring spectacularly”.
In what was dubbed the ‘Costa Crackdown’, officials in hotspots like Magaluf, Malaga and Ibiza introduced tough fines for groups caught misbehaving – such as by brandishing blow-up willies.
Related story: 28 popular Spanish beaches ban smoking
However, Matt previously stated the tactics were simply driving up demand for these destinations.
And he said there had been a similar explosion in bookings in Amsterdam recently, after officials launched a campaign urging British groups seeking sex and drugs to ‘stay away’.
Instead, the entrepreneur suggested officials in Spain should learn to embrace what has rapidly grown into a multi-million-pound arm of the travel industry.
“The average stag or hen has around a dozen people in the group, so they are worth around £5,000 to the local economy,” added Matt.
“While stags and hens may be divisive, they are a huge economic as divisive as they are, on a busy weekend they cane worth up to €1m-a-week to Benidorm – so they are helping a lot of local business to ride out these tough economic times.”
You may also like: X-rated Benidorm showgirl legend Sticky Vicky turns 80
Images: Last Night of Freedom
staff.inc.ali
Loading
Sign up for the Spanish News Today Editors Roundup Weekly Bulletin and get an email with all the week’s news straight to your inbox
Special offer: Subscribe now for 25% off (36.95 euros for 48 Bulletins)
OR
you can sign up to our FREE weekly roundup!
Read some of our recent bulletins:
25% Discount Special Offer subscription:
36.95€ for 48 Editor’s Weekly News Roundup bulletins!
Please CLICK THE BUTTON to subscribe.
(List price 3 months 12 Bulletins)
Read more stories from around Spain:
Contact Murcia Today: Editorial 966 260 896 /
Office 968 018 268