When Marbella's 2015 international film festival draws to a spectacular close with a gala dinner awards ceremony at Andalucía Plaza Hotel on 11th October, the venue will have been instrumental in making the 10th film festival another resounding success. Here important players of the world-wide movie industry will have met over cocktails to discuss future projects, will have chatted at networking events and participated in workshops and seminars.
Industry professionals and filmmakers will not just be able to enjoy the hospitality the 400-room hotel has to offer, but be in a position to appreciate the cutting-edge conference room facilities and great location the organisers have selected for them.
Adjacent to Marbella Casino and just 800 metres from Puerto Banus' nightlife and shopping, the hotel boasts spacious rooms, a buffet restaurant with à la carte options and a fully fledged conference centre that can easily accommodate 600 film enthusiasts. Located just 6 km from Marbella's centre, the H10 Andalucía Plaza Hotel offers guests easy access to the beach, which is just 500 m distance from the hotel complex.
Featuring free Wi-Fi throughout the hotel, handy for those who quickly need to send an email about their next potential blockbuster idea, the hotel also has two pools, of which one is a heated indoor pool, and a Despacio Spa Centre offering those in need of pampering and relaxation a range of treatments.
Malaga Airport is just 58 km away, making Marbella a very accessible place for an international film festival, a fact that has largely contributed to the festival's global reputation. All films are screened at the lovely Teatro Goya in Puerto Banus, a new avant-garde multi-space that features seven auditoriums with a capacity ranging from 115 to 475 people, and a multipurpose area of 500 sqm, as well as a Sky Garden with amazing sea views.
In short, it's a venue which allows creative film industry people to relax and focus on the task ahead, namely to pitch new ideas for collaboration and cement old friendships, to shine and sparkle, be witty and open to new ideas. Several filmmakers have decided to premier their films at MIFF this year, highlighting how important the festival and location have become in filmmakers' eyes.
A Boost for Tourism at the Costa del Sol
A multi-billion dollar industry, the film business can bring enormous kudos to a location - as the resident businesses of the real life location for the ITV drama "Broadchurch" discovered after the film crews had left and the thriller had aired. Tourism as a result of international exposure in TV and cinema films can boom thanks to cinema blockbusters or successful broadcasting on TV. The Scottish Highlands benefitted hugely from the TV series "Monarch of the Glen" and Mallorca regularly features as the backdrop for Hollywood movies and TV adverts alike.
An while Marbella is hardly an undiscovered gem on the tourist trail through Spain, the world-wide attention the festival brings with it can surely only enhance tourism goals for the resort. For the festival brings just the right type of tourist with it: not the package holidaymaker staying at the local camping grounds but affluent people with an eye toward the finer things in life.
Many who come to Marbella for the first time to partake in the seminars and workshops later decide that staying in Marbella for a holiday, or filming along the Costa del Sol is a pretty good idea. As a result of several visits, quite a few filmmakers and industry professionals also decide to make Marbella their permanent home. The Andalucía Plaza Hotel has contributed greatly to enhancing the town's reputation with the staging of the whole festival event over the last decade and will no doubt remain the festival's spiritual home for a while longer.