Guess who's given a big boost to holiday bookings in Marbella...

Sam Faiers/Solarpix

Marbella is seeing a huge increase in holiday bookings from Brits - thanks to the reality TV show The Only Way Is Essex (Towie).

The show, which recently filmed a one-off holiday special at the Spanish resort, showed the reality stars frolicking on the beach, lounging around on luxury yachts and spraying each other with champagne at pool parties.

According to tour operator Lowcostholidays.com, the show worked wonders for attracting Brits in their droves to the holiday resort. The company claims it experienced an increase of a massive 1,942 per cent in searches for holidays to the hotspot while The Only Way is Marbs was screened - and since then, bookings have been up 166 per cent week-on-week.

Stag and hen do bookings have become particularly popular since the programme, which showed stars Lucie Mecklenburgh and Mario Falcone getting engaged.

Rex

But a spokesman for Marbella Tourism - who had never seen the programme - says the resort isn't just for Towie tourists. "Marbella is a very beautiful place. We have 27km of beaches and amazing sights like the the Puerto Banus Marina [pictured]. And of course, the sun shines for more than 330 days a year. During the summer, the population nearly triples.

He added that you don't need to live like a Towie star to enjoy Marbella. "The price range of hotels and apartments means it offers something for all budgets, and life is very inexpensive here - it's all about beautiful surroundings and sunshine."

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