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Spanish City Folk and the Rise of the Villa Holiday

Tourism has played an important role in Javea for nearly a century. Until the 1960s however, it was mainly Spaniards living inland in the main cities who came to spend their vacations getting away from the cities. Gradually, each decade since then has seen growing numbers of foreign tourists being added to the mix of tourists, but Javea still very much relies on the Spanish city dwellers taking their holidays or visiting their vacation homes in addition to foreigners.

A visit to any of the local tourist offices in Javea quickly reveals that despite the importance of tourism to the local economy, Javea and the neighbouring towns and villages surrounding it isn't geared up for the traditional UK and other Northern European package tour seekers. Quite the contrary. The whole emphasis is to help promote lots of little enterprises locally that benefit from the tourist trade. This includes the small number of hotels, local restaurants, local arts and other towns to visit. With the one thing all these have in common being, that they all aim at the independent travellers and families who do not form big groups, but are more discerning and are not seeking loud organized tours and the usual entourage of lager louts, holiday reps and bus loads of karaoke singers.

Independent Yes, Most Definitely Discerning, But Not Necessarily Expensive

The local community welcomes foreign tourists and are more than happy to help if the need arises. Local hotels and restaurants depend greatly on ensuring customers come back again and again. This is why tourists from Britain tend to have booked their travel products independently. These book their hotel or villa direct, book flights separately, seek out the best car hire directly and buy annual travel insurance, as they will usually visit more than once a year. They are discerning because they do not rely on tour operators or travel agents to help them make decisions on where to stay or what to do. Most usually, they are looking for a peaceful location, where they can benefit from the local facilities, whilst remaining independent from the hordes of package tourists that are found further down the coastline.

Yes the cost of a holiday in Javea will cost you more than a package tour to Benidorm, but you will be astonished at how much more you get and how little the extra cost turns out to be. This is mainly because there is little pressure on holiday makers to spend money, as there are no reps running around trying to earn their commissions. Beer, wine and spirits cost a good deal less than in the big resorts that rely on foreign drinkers. Restaurants have far greater choice and variety of menus, which tend to be of a higher quality, without being more expensive. As Javea still relies quite heavily on local residents and Spanish visitors from the cities, it is essential that the local traders provide value for money and keep service levels higher than you might expect.

We hope that the information provided on this website communicates to you that Javea is a great place for tourists to spend their holidays if they are seeking rest and escape from the bustle of their normal routine back in the UK. Yes Javea welcomes such visitors, but also remains a small town of residents that will still be using the local services even when the holiday season is over.