We’ve all heard the infamous tales of some Brits’ boozy breaks abroad. Drinking until dawn, engaging in some ‘lad culture’, and throwing wild bachelor’s and hen parties are just some of the things associated with UK tourists in certain parts of the world.
And now it looks like some of the more popular tourist hotspots have had enough. Spain’s Lanzarote, famous for its beaches, volcanic landscape, and natural beauty, has revealed that they want ‘higher-quality’ visitors ‘who spend more’ going forward. The island’s new strategy is to reduce its dependence on the British market and to attract tourists from other destinations, ‘like the German market’.
The decision is a major one given the fact that British tourists currently make up around half of Lanzarote’s overseas visitors. But the island isn't the first in Spain to start targeting quality over quantity. Recently, Mallorca revealed that it would not allow more than three cruise ships a day to the island’s capital of Palma across 2023 and 2024. The Director of Tourism for Mallorca, Lucia Escribano said that the island was ‘not interested in having budget tourists from the UK’.
Similarly, at the end of 2022, Amsterdam revealed that it was cracking down on rowdy tourists who contributed to its sleazy image associated with drinking, drugs, and brothels. Their ‘stay away’ campaign targeted Brits in particular, who are widely considered to be the city’s rowdiest tourists. The city is also planning to limit bar crawls, stag-do and hen party sizes, river cruises, and cannabis consumption – recently announcing that weed will be banned in Amsterdam’s infamous red light district.
Did you know that you can now get trains all over Spain for just €9?
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