Thousands attend Low Cost bringing in €3.9 million

BENIDORM’S three-day Low Cost Festival was deemed a success by the Town Hall. They calculated that 98 per cent of festival-goers came from outside of Benidorm and each spent an average of €94 per day in restaurants, shops and on transportation and other services.

This is more than the average €60 per day that tourists usually spend, not including accommodation. Given that there were around 42,000 attendees this represents economic earnings for the city of around €3.9 million. This is more than the €2 million reported from last year’s festival.

“The supermarkets, shops, taxis and places offering tourist accommodation including camping and apartments as well as hotels to a lesser extent benefited the most from this event,” said Major Events Councillor Conrado Hernandez.

People came from all over thanks to the “excellent quality of the musical lineup.” “This event was aimed an young tourists and helps to refresh the city’s brand,” said president of hospitality association Hosbec, Antonio Mayor.

“Benidorm needs to promote large events like this as it benefits all sectors from campsites to people renting out their second homes.” “It has even helped some of the smaller nearby villages.”

Campsites in the Benidorm area had an average of 98 per cent occupancy compared to their usual 80 per cent occupancy during a normal weekend in July.

Tourist apartments registered with the association Apture had an average of 85 per cent occupancy during the festival. Taxi’s increased their turnover by 20 per cent compared to other weekends in July. The festival ended at about 5am for each of the three days.

“Although we did our utmost to mitigate the noise caused by the festival we hope that people understand because the benefits of the festival have been so high,” said Hernandez. The were some who were not pleased with the outcome of the festival, namely some bars and restaurants who were unable to capitalize their business and complained about the lack of parking near their establishments.

Photo credit: Camon