Abu Dhabi, Nov 12th, 2009 Emirates Palace, one of the leading lights of the world travel and tourism industry, has scooped a collection of honours at the 2009 World Travel Awards (WTA), the most prestigious and coveted global travel and tourism accolades which also acknowledge and recognize excellence in the industry.

The Emirates Palace has snatched five prestigious awards in the categories of World’s Leading Conference Hotel, Middle East Leading Conference Resort, – Abu Dhabi Leading Conference Hotel, Abu Dhabi Leading Hotel and Abu Dhabi Leading Resort.

As the 16th WTA unveiled honours list of world class travel companies, it said the Abu Dhabi iconic hotel brand has been awarded these highest accolades by votes cast by 183,000 agents and travel professionals in over 160 countries across the globe, for its world class products of exceptional luxury, quality and value.

Hailed as “the Oscars of the Travel Industry”, The World Travel Awards is without doubt the most prestigious and comprehensive awards programme for the travel business. The World Travel Awards has become globally recognised, bringing worldwide acclaim to some of the best of the best in the travel and tourism industry.

”We are extremely delighted to have been honoured and recognised among the best of best leaders of the world travel, tourism and hospitality industry by such reputed organisations and publications” Emirates Palace General Manager Mr. Hans Olbertz said in a comment on the remarkable achievement.

”These prestigious honours will, no doubt, further entrench our high profile stature in the industry ….they serve as a vote of confidence on our top world class services and products and a testimony of how our brand has positioned itself among the world’s best and powerful trademarks”, Olbertz added ”We will remain committed to the highest benchmarks we have set for ourselves. These successes will definitely further improve our international profile and help us reach out to new customers. Increasingly, customers will be making the right choices and feel total peace of mind when booking at a hotel which has won WTA laurels.

According to organisers, winning one of the awards not only brings a travel company or destination acknowledgement and respect from the global industry, but also offers valuable commercial and profiling benefits that can filter down to the bottom line. The winners can expect massive international profile and acclaim worldwide.

”We aspire to be a reliable industry barometer, adopting latest developments, creating new products and improving customer experiences that is why winning such honours will have a special significance, with long term international impact” Olbertz said , ” The prestigious WTA acknowledges the cream of the travel and tourism industry, those players who are setting new boundaries and trends in travel excellence and we at the Emirates Palace are delighted and honoured to be associated with this, Olbertz said.

Increasingly, the awards are known as raising the bar for ultimate customer service and overall business performance. Growing numbers of travel companies, airlines, operators and resorts compete to walk away with one of the coveted titles and the Emirates Palace has a lion share of these accolades.

Over 1000 travel companies were nominated in 94 World categories. These inspirational organisations will continue to reap profile and commercial benefits in 2010.

Graham Cooke, President and Founder, World Travel Awards commented: “The past 12 months have brought several challenges, namely the economic downturn and the outbreak of swine flu, which has impacted travel and tourism worldwide; today’s winners have not only been recognised as the best in their region, but they have proved themselves to be the best in the World and the number one choice of travel professionals and consumers alike.” He added: “They have remained focused on their long term objectives, and continued to deliver above and beyond the call of duty, setting an industry example.” Cooke explained: “This year’s World winners can display the official World Travel Awards symbol with pride on their sales and marketing literature, offering travellers a cast-iron assurance that what they are buying is a guarantee of travel excellence.” Esraa