Package Holiday: Why do Brits go to Benidorm?

For decades Brits have enjoyed package holidays in sunnier climes of Spain, in resort towns like Benidorm. But why is that? Where did the package holiday itself come from? Was it one person who invented it?

Alice Loxton and Ben Henderson unpack the stories which have all contributed to the success of the package holiday.

We’ll start our journey off in Victorian Britain, with a layover to visit a North London entrepreneur, before reaching our final destination of Franco-era Spain.

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Key Sources:

Thomas Cook: The Holiday-maker by Jill Hamilton A World Away: The British Package Holiday Boom, 1950-1974 by Michael John Law The New Elizabethans: Vladimir Raitz Witness History: The beginning of Benidorm