Ibiza/Benidorm - Same but Different
A couple of weeks ago I was in Benidorm for our annual Ibiza Cricket Club tour where the town was celebrating its fiesta week. The closing event is arguably the biggest fancy dress party in Europe where tens of thousands of people take to the streets in varying qualities of costumes to drink and be merry. The atmosphere is fantastic with a feel good feeling throughout.
One of the reasons I love visiting Benidorm is because it’s the polar opposite of Ibiza, it’s one of the the least pretentious places you’ll ever visit. It’s big and in your face with massive hotels at every turn, everything is focused on tourism. It’s great value for money, in the main bars it’s 3 euros for a big bottle of beer, 2 euros for a bottle of water, 5 euros for a Guinness, 5 for a GnT.
When you eat, the portions are generous, the service is usually informed and excellent and Benidorm old town has superb tapas restaurants equal to anywhere I’ve visited in Spain.
Benidorm is a great example of why competition is healthy. So many places offering similar services so prices are competitive with your next door neighbour, otherwise you will struggle. It’s an unashamedly price driven destination and it doesn’t hide it, compared to Ibiza it’s great value for money. It’s not to everyone’s taste but then again neither is Ibiza but Benidorm knows its market and focuses on that. It doesn’t try to be something it’s not and is all the better for it.
During Benidorm’s big fancy dress party a few said to me that it would be great if Ibiza did something similar but I couldn’t disagree any more. Ibiza doesn’t want or need this type of business. I hate to use the C word but cheaper tourism isn’t something Ibiza should covet. Like Benidorm and other destinations the White Isle has positioned itself in the marketplace but as an up-market destination where things are ‘reassuringly expensive’. This might annoy some of the old school who still wear rose tinted glasses from the 70s but the numbers don’t lie, Ibiza has been booming for over a decade.
Of course ‘reassuringly expensive’ is OK as long as you can back it up with quality and service and those businesses in Ibiza that rip people off should be called out and this is when social media comes in very handy, a bad business has nowhere to hide these days.
Ibiza has world class bars, restaurants, nightclubs and beach clubs run by some of the best entrepreneurs in the world. They don’t do it for charity, they do it to succeed and in turn make money. This is good business for everyone because if they aren’t as good as they think they are then they are quickly found out and the next one moves in. There’s always a few charlatans in the mix looking for a quick buck but Ibiza tends to spit them out.
Short haul tourism is constantly evolving and the the biggest challenge Ibiza businesses face is that the ‘herd’ now come over for a only a few nights and try to cram in as much as possible, most of it pre-planned and paid for so if your name is not on the social media driven must-do list then you need to fight even harder to survive but if you can succeed then the spoils are more than worth the effort. Many small Ibiza acorns are now flourishing oak trees.
When you book to go to Benidorm you know exactly what you get and it’s the same for Ibiza. Two completely distinct destinations speaking the same language but in entirely different ways and united in their desire to succeed and keep their clients happy.
Benidorm and Ibiza are the same in many ways but entirely different in others, and like the big Beni fancy dress party, this should be celebrated.