A woman crying alone on a beach isn’t the most traditional opening scene in a promotional film for a resort, newspaper Publico reported, but that’s how the short film You Only Love Once, which takes place at the five-star VidaMar Resort Hotel in Portugal’s southern Algarve region, starts.
The 12 minute film, produced by Lobby Films & Advertising, directed by Telmo Martins and written by Frederico Pombares, was produced and filmed in 2019, mostly at the VidaMar Resort Hotel Algarve, and tells “a story full of the magic of a reunion, under the motto that we must return to the places where we were happy.”
The film had already won nine national and international awards since February in various film and tourism festivals, and has now clinched Best Tourism Film in the World in the Tourism and Services category at the International Committee of Film and Tourism Festivals (CIFFT).
The international organization brings together 13 international festivals in the sector, including the Cannes Corporate Media & TV Awards, New York Festivals and the Portuguese Art & Tur.
These “Oscars” are given to the best of around 3500 films from more than 130 countries that competed in 13 competitions.
“We wanted to challenge the status quo of what is normally the promotion of a hotel and focus on the emotional side, showing how we approach each guest individually in order to make their stay truly rewarding,” Virgínia Saraiva, vice president of the board of directors of the hotel group, told Publico. “Invoking homesickness and memories of places and moments of happiness, paying homage to the beautiful life and love stories of each guest who has passed through the hotel is the main message. The idea of feeling at home, even when we are away from it. ”
The award, she added, ends up having “an even more special dimension for such a difficult year” the sector is undergoing due to the pandemic.
“It is very good news not only for us, but for the Algarve and for the entire hotel industry”, says Saraiva, adding that the distinction shows “that Portugal is a unique destination, with many valences, and that our products have a value that conquers the world.”
The VidaMar Resort Hotel Algarve opened in 2013 and includes 260 rooms (including two suites), four restaurants, spa, gym, a kids club and an exclusive outdoor space for people over 16, in addition to outdoor pools, a hairdresser, grocery store, meeting rooms and event space. After reopening its doors on 1 July, the hotel located next to Salgados beach, in Albufeira, is currently closed, with the reopening scheduled for 5 March 2021.
The list of the best videos of 2020 can be seen on the CIFFT website, of which only six have won the Grand Prix.
