Benidorm will award prizes to Jet2Holidays, the ONCE Social Group, the Valencian Business Association, and Abreca on Tourism Day

The City Council will award the "City of Benidorm" Tourism Awards to the British tour operator Jet2, the ONCE Social Group, the Valencian Business Association (AVE), and Abreca, in the International, National, Regional, and Local categories, respectively. This decision was unanimously approved by the Board of Spokespersons at the proposal of the Mayor, Toni Pérez; a proposal that also includes the presentation of the Special Mention of these awards to the recently deceased local businessman Vicente Climent, owner of the legendary Benidorm Palace nightclub.

As usual, these awards will be presented next September, coinciding with the commemoration of International Tourism Day, at an event whose date and location will be announced later. The Board of Spokespersons' proposal will first be approved by the City Council in the plenary session on August 25th.

Jet2holidays is the leading international tour operator serving Benidorm and the Costa Blanca, and since February 2023, the largest tour operator in the United Kingdom. In 2024, it accounted for almost 40% of the 900,000 British tourists staying in hotels, and the same year, it moved 660,000 seats at Alicante Airport. By 2025, its growth is expected to reach over 11%, with almost 730,000 seats scheduled, well above the British market average of 8.5%.

Furthermore, over the last few years, Benidorm City Council and the ONCE Social Group have collaborated consistently and enthusiastically, promoting "accessibility and the implementation and development of actions that foster an inclusive tourist experience," making the city and destination "a benchmark in this field." During this time, the organisation has also chosen Benidorm as the venue for various inclusive initiatives and meetings, "strengthening synergies and thus demonstrating mutual trust."

At the regional level, the City Council will recognise the Valencian AVE business community, thanks to which Benidorm becomes the "epicentre of the debate on the future of tourism in Spain" each year, through the Tourism Conference, which celebrated its twelfth edition in 2025 and brings together hundreds of business leaders and executives from different economic sectors. The objective of these conferences, in which various employers' associations collaborate, is to highlight the role of the tourism sector as a transversal economic driver, key to job creation, investment, and social transformation, with Benidorm as the ultimate example of all this.

Another association also received the award in the Local category. This is Abreca, an organisation that encompasses the hospitality, restaurant, and leisure sectors in Benidorm, and which celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2025. Four decades in which, beyond defending the sector's interests and its advocacy, Abreca has contributed to strengthening the identity and positioning of the Benidorm brand and promoting gastronomy as an essential component of the tourist offer. In this regard, year after year, its involvement and enthusiasm, alongside the Department of Tourism, in the organisation and promotion of Benidorm Gastronomic, stand out.

Finally, the Special Mention will serve to recognise and remember entrepreneur Vicente Climent Llorca, who sadly passed away last June after more than three decades at the helm of Benidorm Palace. Convinced of Benidorm's "tourist potential," he "firmly committed to contributing to enhancing the appeal" of the brand and the destination through "music and entertainment." Thus, under his management, the Benidorm Palace venue became "an international benchmark on par with Las Vegas, Paris, and Berlin, garnering various top-level international awards for the quality and variety of its glamorous performances and shows."