DUBAI – Dubai has been named the world’s leading destination and cruise port at this year’s World Travel Awards, at the Awards ceramony held on Tuesday night on the Caribbean island of Turks and Caicos.
Dubai also won a several other awards in the night which featured a performance from 1970s disco queens Sister Sledge. The Palm Jumeirah was named the world’s leading tourism development project, the Burj Al Arab the world’s leading hotel and Le Royal Meridien the world’s leading spa resort.
Other Dubai-based hotels who won awards for their superior service were Grosvenor House and The Monarch Dubai.
Abu Dhabi also celebrated a successful night, as Etihad Airways was named the world’s leading first class airline, the Emirates Palace was named a world-beating conference venue and the capital’s tourism authority was also singled out for praise.
Established in 1993, the annual World Travel Awards recognises excellence in various sectors of the travel industry. Since the first ever ceremony in Hollywood, the event has been hosted in glamorous destinations worldwide, including New York, Jamaica, Las Vegas, London, Kuala Lumpur and the Bahamas. Last year, the awards switched from one centralised event to regional heats, culminating in a grand final on Turks and Caicos. This year’s Middle Eastern awards were held last month in Dubai, at the Atlantis on the Palm Jumeirah. Miss World Zi Lin Zhang was the guest of honour at the ceremony. Other regional venues included Sydney, Shanghai, Orlando and Rio de Janeiro.
A total of 3,600 companies were nominated for this year’s awards, with winners being picked by popular vote among more than 167,000 travel agents and travel industry executives. Khaleej Times was a media partner for the event