Marbela award and cruisers with Japanese toursits visit area

26 April 2014

Marbella’s main beach has been nominated as the most important European beach in the 2014 edition of World Travel Award, with nine hotels in different parts of Andalucía are nominated in different categories.

According to the nominee’s list released to Europa Press, in the European category, Marbella’s beach has been nominated alongside Cannes, Corfú, Costa Smeralda, Formentera, Oludeniz and Algarve as most important beaches in Europe. Marbella’s Club Hotel has been nominated in the best tourists’ beach resort in the European category, and also as the best luxury resort in the entire continent and as the best tourists’ resort.

As far as the Spanish edition of these international awards, nine hotels from Andalucía have been nominated in different categories. In the all-inclusive resort category, Benalup Casas Viejas (Cádiz) Fairplay Golf Hotel & Spa has been nominated. In the hotel resort for business, Gran Melia Don Pepe Hotel in Marbella (Málaga). Kempinski Hotel Bahía in Estepona (Málaga) has been nominated in the Spanish category for best residential hotel for 2014.

On another note, after months of negotiations with several tour-operators, Manilva will welcome tourists landing from cruise ships arriving in Gibraltar. The councilor for Tourism, Emilio López and Pepi Valenzuela, manager spent last week showing the town to representatives from these tour-operator companies. An agreement was signed to receive visitors.

The managers for these tour operators made tours of the Interpretation Center, the Castillo facilities, the town’s beaches and boardwalk and the Duquesa Harbor. López said that in addition, they watched several fencing and raptor bird exhibits prepared by the local town council. The first group of visitors arriving to the town will be a group of Japanese tourists. Specifically it will be 150 tourists arriving by transfer on Friday, April 25th from their cruise ship. A special taxi tour has been prepared for them. Some of these visitors are Hiroshima survivors, and they’ll be spending the day in the town.

López coordinated the effort with the rest of town councilors to allow them to have their areas ready to receive the tourist group according to the competency of each councilor. This town’s proximity to Gibraltar allowed the agreement to be signed, since tourists can land, visit the town and return the same day. The two towns are only 37 km. away, a little under 50 minutes by bus transfer.