Thursday, February 9th, 2012
A new survey claims that Marbella is fast becoming one of the more popular destinations for British stag and hen parties
08.02.12 – 11:54 -
ASH BOLTON |
A group of lads from northern Ireland on a stag do in Marbella last weekend. / A. Bolton
Matching t-shirts, drink related shenanigans and boisterous behaviour. It’s fair to say that British stag and hen dos haven’t got the best reputation abroad. But a new survey suggests Marbella may be seeing a few more soon to be hitched visitors this year.
According to a survey by UK hen and stag company Redseven, the town is the third most popular destination after London and Brighton for hen parties. It claims bookings have jumped 63 per cent thanks to the popularity of the TV show ‘The Only Way is Essex’ (TOWIE). The ITV2 show filmed the cast jetting over to “Marbs” last year to enjoy the beaches and bars.
Ian Lucas, founder and CEO of Redseven, said: “Since ‘The Only Way is Essex’ cast flew out to Marbella we’ve seen a huge surge in bookings from those wanting to follow suit, and rightly so, since Marbella has a vibrant party scene and beautiful beaches to relax on the following day.”
But what do local businesses think about the reported increase in Brits wanting to let their hair down in “Marbs”? Jenna Callaghan, 30, from Cork, who has run Callaghan’s Bar in Marbella for eight years, said: “The stag and hen dos we have in the bar are well behaved but they tend to start the night off here and then head on to Puerto Banús at night. So it might be a different story there. But if Marbella is becoming more popular that can only be a good thing as it is bringing more money in. There’s an image that Marbella is quite expensive, but it actually isn’t.”
This is something 28-year-old Patrick Clifford agrees with. Patrick, from Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, who spent last weekend in Marbella on a stag do, said: “It’s a nice place and it’s cheaper to drink than Dublin. We’ve spent most of the time in Marbella rather than Puerto Banús as it’s more expensive there.”
Another business owner who is happy to see more stags and hens in Marbella is Ruth Stevenson who runs the Blue Palm café. She said: “We’ve had a lot more hen than stags over the years and a lot of the women bring their mums with them. People tend to stay in Marbella as it’s quite cheap but head to Puerto Banús in the evening for the night-life.” Ruth admitted she hasn’t noticed an increase in numbers recently but agreed it would be good news for the local economy. She added: “We don’t have many in December and January but from the spring we have at least one every weekend. “If it is becoming more popular this is good news as it is extra money for local businesses. I’ve never had a problem here and if they get drunk or loud I ask them to keep the noise down.”
Three miles west along the Golden Mile is where most of the Brits end up, according to Lina Hodgkins. The marketing director for Linekers Group, who operate seven bars, clubs and restaurants in Puerto Banús, said the group saw around 1,000 stag and hen revellers every weekend. She said: “I’ve been doing this for six years now and every year we have been up 100 per cent year on the previous year. We’ve already got 10,000 people booked on hen, stag dos and girlie weekends away (for 2012) and are struggling to keep up. Most of the cast booked into Linkers and TIBU Night Club in the summer so yes the show has made a difference and this is good for the economy.”
Russell Soden, 40, co-proprietor of Terra Blues in Puerto Banús, added: “Any extra business at this time of economic crisis has to be a good thing because a lot of bars are really struggling, but it may have a very damaging lasting effect on the way the area is looked at. The golden era of film stars etc. has been gone for years. They’ve been replaced by rich footballers and now it’s the reality TV “stars”. Twenty years ago you might have said “did you see Sean Connery in the port?” Now its more like “did you see Amy Childs?”
