The town hall in Marbella has been targeting travel organisations in the United States to boost its image as a destination for upmarket tourism in both the luxury holiday and business travel sectors.

On a visit to New York last week, mayor of Marbella, Ángeles Muñoz, signed an agreement with the largest network of luxury travel agencies in America for the resort be a preferred destination for its clients.

Meeting with Virtuoso managing director for Hotels and Resorts, Karen Goldberg, the mayor explained why there was so much interest from the network. "After the conference [for agent members] that Virtuoso held in our town in November, we started work on this agreement, which aims to capture high-end travellers who are searching for the quality on offer in Marbella."

She also added that since that conference the number of visitors from the USA staying in the municipality has increased by 54 per cent. "We've reached an agreement so that for the rest of 2018 and all 2019, Marbella will be a preferred destination, promoted by Virtuoso member agents," explained Muñoz. Madrid, Barcelona and the Costa del Sol itself are among the other destinations specially promoted by Virtuoso, whose clients spend on average four times more on their holidays than other visitors.

Business travel

In addition to the deal with Virtuoso, the mayor sought to increase Marbella's profile as a place to live and invest in through a meeting in New York with Skift, a leading information and research portal for the travel industry with particular emphasis on intelligent tourism and business travel.

The mayor explained the lifestyle advantages of Marbella to the American market in her meeting with Carol Kremnis, editor of the company's publication.

"The latest studies carried out by Skift show that users are not just interested in the quality of the tourism offered in a destination, but also the experiences during their stay," added the mayor, saying that Skift was a useful platform to promote Marbella on.