TOWIE Marbella special triggers tourism surge

PUBLISHED: June 26, 2012 at 9:06 am • LAST EDITED: June 27, 2012 at 1:07 pm
Andalucia, Entertainment, Malaga • 4 Comments

• The Only Way is Marbs included a proposal from Mario Falcone to Lucy Mecklenburgh

By Eloise Horsfield

FOR many it was painful to watch – but The Only Way of Essex’s Marbella special has triggered a promising surge in holiday bookings.

Tour operator Lowcostholidays.com reported an enormous 1,942 per cent increase in searches for trips to Marbella during ITV’s one-hour transmission of The Only Way is Marbs on June 13.

And since then, bookings are up by 166 per cent.

The show did not fail to impress it fans, with sun, sand and bare flesh aplenty – and even a marriage proposal.

Mario Falcone popped the big question to Lucy Mecklenburgh on a yacht peppered with roses – obviously having forgiven her for cheating on him with Mark Wright during last year’s Marbella trip.

“Like it or loathe it, TOWIE has led to a massive increase in stag and hen dos in Marbella,” said Giles Brown, editor of Marbella’s Hot magazine.

“Although the funny thing is, you often see tourists dressed up to the nines tottering around the fishing port, looking bewildered after mistaking it for the glamour of Puerto Banus,” he added.

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Reader Comments »

stefanjo

June 27th, 2012 1:18 am

What better reason would any sane person need, to stay well away from that over-priced over-hyped dump?

Best of Spain

June 27th, 2012 7:08 pm

If THIS is the reason they visit Marbella, these “classy” knowlegable tourists “dressed to the nines and tottering around the Fishing Port – thinking it’s Puerto Banus” …
should fall into Mar de Alboran for a true taste of Spain!

Best of Spain

June 27th, 2012 9:04 pm

An idea! If this thing is increasing good tourisnm for Stag and Hen do’s, can we do something like it to increase similar “Quality Tourism” by Football YOBS, International politicians/celebrities, high Court & Town Halls Officers ?

BigJonMX

September 27th, 2012 12:52 pm

last month i saw a spanish program about Marbella. And they interviewed lots of naked old men who wandered about the bushes at the back of the beaches looking for ‘muchachos’. I remember a woman with children walking by in the background started shouting a lot. i think she didnt approve, not sure, the spanish was very fast.

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