Lisbon Portugal

For the 24th edition of the World Travel Awards (WTA), leading winners from the various category were announced at the JW Marriott Phu Quoc Emerald Bay hotel in Vietnam. This year, travel professionals and consumers cast their votes throughout the year based on an online campaign in categories such as: the world’s leading airline, leading beach destination, leading fine dining hotel restaurant, leading luxury hotel, leading luxury new resort, leading culture city destination and most romantic resort and more.

After a year of conducting regional pageants to recognise the best hotels, airlines, resorts and destinations from around the world, rounding up the podium for the World Travel Awards, Singapore Airlines, Portugal and Bolivia were among big winners at the grand finale of a gala event, identical to that of the Oscars of the travel world.

The results from the online voting campaign showed that votes from the public carried a weighting of one, while votes cast by travel professionals carried a weighting of two. Finalists for the grand finale were made of up winners from the regional awards and had been approved by the WTA.

Portugal and Bolivia Among Big winners of World Travel Awards

Image courtesy of Bolivia Travel Site

Bolivia took the title of leading cultural destination for hosting colourful parades and festivals nearly every month, which is one of the significant destinations for travellers who are keen on cultural experience. In addition, Portuguese capital of Lisbon was the stand-out destination of 2017 that took the position as the world’s leading city break destination of the year, voted by travel professionals and consumers.

Meanwhile, a few curious winners also emerged in the category of leading beach destination, featuring the Galapagos Islands where the ecologically conditions are both fragile and vulnerable, but has been named the winner. Elsewhere, there’s Machu Picchu, which has also been struggling with over-tourism and degradation, has been named the world’s leading tourist attraction.

Need some holiday inspiration? Here are a few of the big winners that emerged from the recent 24th edition of the World Travel Awards:

World’s leading airline: Singapore Airlines
Leading airport:  Changi Airport, Singapore
Leading beach destination: Galapagos Islands, Ecuador
Leading boutique hotel: Saxon Hotel, Villas and Spa, South Africa
Leading casino resort: Wynn Las Vegas, Nevada
Leading cruise line: Norwegian Cruise Line
Leading design hotel: Armani Hotel Dubai, UAE
Leading fine dining hotel restaurant: La Maison 1888, InterContinental Danang
Leading island destination: Madeira Islands
Leading low-cost airline: AirAsia
Leading luxury hotel: Burj Al Arab Jumeirah, Dubai
Leading luxury new resort: The St. Regis Maldives Vommuli Resort
Leading safari destination: Kenya
Leading theme park resort: Universal Orlando Resort, Florida
Leading tourist attraction: Machu Picchu, Peru
Leading wedding destination: Jamaica
Leading culture city destination: Saint Petersburg, Russia
Leading culinary destination: Peru
Most romantic resort: Baros Maldives

To read more about the 2017 World Travel Awards, please visit www.worldtravelawards.com.