Marbella hosted the second edition of DUCO Spain & Portugal, an international event focused on luxury tourism, bringing together 227 brands, 235 exhibitors and more than 170 travel agents. The event has now concluded, and the town hall says commercial deals were completed during the gathering. It did not provide details of their number or value.
Mayor Ángeles Muñoz met Rebeca Pinheiro, chief executive of DUCO Spain & Portugal, after the event to review the gathering and discuss the promotional and business opportunities of continuing to hold it in Marbella. The town hall says the organisers were satisfied with how it went and that participating travel professionals responded positively to the destination.
The municipality highlighted the presence of agencies from the United States, which it considers one of Marbella’s priority markets for international promotion. It did not publish a breakdown of participants by country, so the scale of US representation is not clear.
The event is designed to connect destinations and tourism businesses with agents who advise clients, recommend places to visit and arrange trips. Marbella’s tourism director general, Laura de Arce, said participants stayed in local accommodation, experienced the food and visited notable sites, while meeting professionals from the tourism industry.
That direct exposure matters particularly in high-end travel, the town hall said, where personal recommendations and familiarity with a destination can influence customers’ choices. The intended benefit extends beyond the event itself: agents may carry their impressions back to their home markets and help generate future bookings and business relationships. Those are potential outcomes, rather than results quantified by the municipality.
The town hall said Marbella was the first Spanish destination chosen to host DUCO for three consecutive editions. The event’s next edition would therefore continue that run, although the announcement supplied no dates or further details about the future programme.
Alongside Marbella’s Ayuntamiento, the gathering received support from Turismo Andaluz and Turismo Costa del Sol. The municipality also thanked the hotel sector for accommodating international agents and presenting the destination’s hospitality and services. No figures were released on public spending, visitor numbers beyond the event participants, or the economic impact on local businesses.