Thousands of British racegoers bypass the Cheltenham Festival in Gloucestershire, opting instead for sunny Benidorm on Spain’s Costa Blanca. Fans in fancy dress outfits line the Benidorm strip, enjoying the four-day event on big screens while sipping pints for as little as £1.70.
Benidorm’s Irresistible Draw
Hotel bookings in Benidorm surge by 225% for the festival’s opening on Tuesday, fueling a popular tradition. Punters don jockey costumes and gather under clear skies, contrasting sharply with Cheltenham’s 11-degree overcast conditions 1,300 miles away.
Cheap beer proves a major lure, undercutting Cheltenham’s £7.50 Guinness pints. Burgers cost half the festival’s £12 price, flights beat London-to-Gloucestershire train fares, and bar entry remains free—versus day tickets from £47 to £180.
Venues offer live race coverage on countless TVs, DJ sets, and pool parties, kickstarting the busy St. Patrick’s Day period on March 17. British tourists account for over 40% of Benidorm’s visitors annually, with nearly 900,000 from the UK in 2024.
Cheltenham Battles Declining Crowds
Festival organizers address falling attendance after 2025’s 218,839 visitors—a drop of over 10,000 from the prior year. Ladies Day drew just 41,949, the lowest single-day figure in 25 years, with rising costs cited as the key deterrent. Guinness hit nearly £8 last year at £7.80.
In response, a full pint of Guinness drops 30p to £7.50, matching 2022 levels, while halves fall 15p to £3.75. Chief executive Guy Lavender, former MCC chairman, explains the move: “The price of a pint of Guinness is a peculiarly emotive issue for many people, but it’s important. You can’t benchmark it, Cheltenham is its own event but it was quite clear that this was something people cared about.”
He adds: “Rather than put their prices up, which I expect every other venue to do, I felt we should reduce those prices and carry those costs ourselves. That’s a decision we’ve taken to implement for the whole of the season. It’s a deliberate, purposeful move towards delivering better value for racegoers.”
Other Price Adjustments
Guinness 0.0 pints fall to £7.30, halves to £3.65. Spirits like 25ml measures of Morgan’s Spiced, Smirnoff, Gordon’s Gin, and Gordon’s Pink Gin drop 20p to £7. Premium lagers (330ml) and Doom Bar cans (500ml) hold at £7.40 and £7.80. Jamesons shots stay at £7.30.
Alcohol-free lagers rise 10p to £4.10 for 330ml bottles, while house wines increase 30p to £10.
