To think that all holidays are essentially false curated experiences and that antipathy to people who go to Benidorm etc is just snobbery?

[Fuma]

The UK middle classes have long shown disdain for British people who go to mass tourism resorts like Benidorm and Magaluf, waxing lyrical about their own more "authentic" travel experience. But these travel experiences are still relatively brief, selective and involve at best fleeting glimpses of meaningful cultural exchange.

Indeed in many cases the experience that the middle class Northern hemisphere traveller has comes at great expense to the comfort, security and well being of the citizens whose country they visit - beaches protected by armed guards, luxury hotel staff living hundreds of miles away from their families with no running water and so on. Unlike the tourist in Spain who will generally be catered to by people on EU mandated wage scales and living with much the same amenities and protections as the people who visit their country.

So given that we all go on holiday to have a break from real life and experience existence in a temporary state of stasis, is it really so much worse for someone to choose to spend this time in a mock English pub if that's what they want to do?

Different people holiday in different ways. Travelling with my parents was more like having your own personal story-teller + university department with you. They spoke enough languages to take them through nearly all of Europe and never went anywhere they hadn't studied before. Travelled by train and always came home with piles of books. Our last family trip was to the Netherlands, to the small country church where they had found out our ancestor was the vicar in the 17th century. No, a trip to Thailand probably wouldn't mean a lot to them, because there wouldn't be anything for them to do. But to my daughter, who studies physical theatre, it would mean something. I would love to go to Central America to look at fish, as some if the other members of my aquarist society have done-though then again I would feel uncomfortable about the environmental impact.

@MontStMichel - it sounds amazing. One for my (uncurated) holiday list! Thanks.

I agree, pointless to look down on other people for taking the break that they can afford.

We should all be thinking a lot more about the impact our leisure time has on the climate and the environment. So taking fewer flights and being more conscious of how our choices affect local areas. For me that means I would not consider a week by a pool in spain every year to be desirable but maybe one well thought out foreign holiday every 3 - 4 years and a bit more time spent enjoying local beaches, forests etc.

We should all be thinking a lot more about the impact our leisure time has on the climate and the environment. So taking fewer flights and being more conscious of how our choices affect local areas. For me that means I would not consider a week by a pool in spain every year to be desirable but maybe one well thought out foreign holiday every 3 - 4 years and a bit more time spent enjoying local beaches, forests etc.

You're right of course. But the weather in the UK and Ireland just isn't reliable enough. I don't need 35 degrees and warm seas but a week in July cowering from wind and torrential rain would undo any benefit of the time away for me.

BogglesGoggles
I didn't realise

I think the OP is lifting their experience of a holiday in Benidorm and plopping it into alternative destinations. Hence the difficulty in comprehending cultural experiences.

We should all be thinking a lot more about the impact our leisure time has on the climate and the environment.

Damn right. Holidays are vastly detrimental to the environment. I live in High Tourist impact area - and the amount of garbage they leave , inconvenience they cause, and sheer relentless pointlessness of their activity is so damaging.

And I really wonder what they get out of it as they return home with their Tartan Tat 'presents from Scotland' (most made in China) and phones full of pictures of things they didn't actually look at because they were to busy peering at the screen of their phone while they took the photo.

Seriously. I see people every day get out of their car, hold up their phone, take a picture, and then get straight back into their car and drive off.

Personally, I think it’s good that the Benidorm people have found each other, and enjoy themselves in easily identifiable areas.

The Spanish don’t seem to mind, they’re making money, they would not dream of holidaying there themselves so their downtime isnt affected.

Disagree. I think people can go wherever they want and I don’t care. But I’ve never experienced the people criticizing them to be the types of people who stay on private beaches in luxury resorts with armed guards! It’s more the staying in home stays/backpacking/little to no luxury/ travel types who complain that others aren’t getting an authentic experience which, compared to what they’re doing, they’re right about.

I really don't care where ppl choose to spend their holidays be it Benidorm or Barbados. I have seen some very (British) touristy parts of Tenerife, Spain and Portugal and thought "not for me" but equally wouldn't want to go somewhere with private beaches and armed guards.

What I really don't like are sweeping generalisations about a group of people and what they like or don't like. OP is indulging in a lot of reverse snobbery twaddle.

Yes, of course you are in a 'bubble' and not going learn everything about the culture, that's why it's called a holiday otherwise you would have to emigrate there.

I'm not really having a go (well perhaps I am) but my point is that you cannot possibly understand another culture by going on holiday there.

But you can get some insight into that culture, if that's what you want to do, depending on the type of holiday. You can learn a lot about a place from visiting it.

However, some people prefer not to, maybe just wanting to lie on a beach or ski or sail or whatever, who's to judge how they spend their (probably limited) time off.

Everyone is going to have their own self centric view of the world whether they are on holiday or not and no matter how long you stay or live in a country you will never learn everything about that culture (even if it's your own culture).

The snobbery on here is so cringeworthy. Lots of people go to Benidorm and enjoy Spanish food, don’t get drunk and loud, don’t expect everyone to speak English etc.

There are people in existence that visit both Benidorm AND ‘culturally rich’ far flung destinations too you know.

Or is it too difficult imagining that not everyone fits into the neat little ‘class boxes’ and stereotypes you put them in?

Like the poster last week who haughtily told MN ‘tattoos are for morons’

I thought of that comment earlier in the week when I spotted the sleeve tattoo on my orthopaedic surgeon.

I think OP is writing his/her thesis...

I love to experience a bit of 'culture'. I'm lucky enough to live somewhere I can experience celebrations like Versaaki.

No I don't speak Punjabi, I don't know much about sikhism, I could probably name the 5 'K's if pushed,I'm not actually celebrating the event just watching some dancing, eating some nice food and having a fun day.

I know when I go on holiday I only dip my toe into the local culture but I value that experience.

That's what I enjoy, I see no point in sunbathing but one of my best friends loves a beach and sun holiday. I doubt we would ever go on holiday together, ot if we did she would spend a day at the beach while I was off exploring somewhere and melting.

We are lucky enough to live in a time and a country where holidays abroad are an experience most people can have, how they choose to spend that holiday is no one's business unless it is causing harm.

I don’t think I would enjoy Benidorm at all, but I do ‘get’ the OP’s point about faux travel.

I know many middle class people , who visit far flung locations for the culture and engagement with locals. When they get back their stories are all about fellows Brits, poor local food, airport fails, food poisoning and foreign bugs and being rushed through the interesting bits at ninety miles an hour with fellow ‘travellers.’

So it all seems like a bit of a superior package with knobs on and extra Boastagram authenticity.

It is difficult to tell whether the travellers have had a real life changing experience as they come back just the same as they went but with an extra dollop of disdain for the plebs. Not always, obviously, but the transforming element seems to depend more on the capacity of the person travelling rather than whether they are sampling Bognor, Benidorm or Benares.

@TheSandman I agree! I live in the Lakes and sometimes they don’t even get out of the car! Just suddenly drive really slowly, take a pic, then speed up again

I go to non touristy parts of Europe because the limestone’s bolted Nothing to do with culture

Well you sound like a snob. I enjoy camping in the wild, boating holidays, city breaks, beach holidays but I also loved Benidorm for what it is. I found it fascinating for people watching, good food and fabulous old fashioned entertainment.

Oh and to the pp who said Spanish don't holiday in Benidorm I saw plenty there.

Cilantro I've lived in Benidorm and I promise you there are plenty of Spanish holidaying there! Also the Spanish I know (family) are also partial to huevos fritos, salchicas y patatas fritas! Spanish culture is a spectrum. Much like our own.

I'm still wondering how any experience can be false? Even if we were all unsuspecting Truman-Show-like participants, and our holiday destinations were all fake sets and actors, our experiences are still very real. Did you perhaps mean authentic?

I don't go on holiday for culture.

I go for guaranteed sunshine, no work, no housework, no chasing round Getting Shit Done. No cooking. No dealing with shit on an hour by hour basis.

I like cheap beer and nice food. By nice I mean identifiable food I want to eat. Not some local dish that is the equivalent of jellied eels. Authentic food is fine if you authentically live there. It's like saying if you go and eat steak and kidney pudding in a pub, it's authentic British food. It's not.

I love our cheap and cheerful holidays in Tenerife. It's not for everyone but it suits us as a family right now. I might want more culture at a different point in my life but trailing round the tourist culture hotspots of the world to tick a list doesn't appeal. But I don't judge anyone who does.

And there is plenty of culture in the UK that I bet most people who jet halfway round the world haven't seen.

If people want go to benidorm , bake in the sun, eat full English breakfasts, get pissed bring home cheap fags let them.

If people want to go to Morocco, see the sights, eat the food, meet the locals, get to kno the culture, let them.

That's the whole point in a holiday. It's what YOU enjoy. Live and let live.

I would do any!!

@frouby yes!