The worldwide winners of this year's World Travel Awards


The full list of winners of the World Travel Awards which I mentioned in an earlier post have now been published on their site.   The worldwide winners (as opposed to those winners for specific continents, regions or categories) are as follows:

World’s Leading Airline – British Airways  
World’s Leading Airline – Alliance Oneworld  
World’s Leading Airline Inflight Meal Service – Qatar Airways  
World’s Leading Airport – Singapore Changi Airport  
World’s Leading Airport Lounge – Virgin Atlantic Airways  
World’s Leading All Suite Hotel & Spa Hotel – Les Ottomans  
World’s Leading All-Inclusive Company – Sandals Resorts International  
World’s Leading All-Suite Hotel – The Oberoi Sahl Hasheesh  
World’s Leading Attraction – Pyramids, Egypt  
World’s Leading Beach – Grace Bay Beach (Providenciales, Turks & Caicos Islands)  
World’s Leading Beach Resort – Le Royal Meridien Beach Resort & Spa, Dubai  
World’s Leading Boutique Hotel – Saxon Boutique Hotel & Spa, South Africa  
World’s Leading Boutique Resort – Vila Joya  
World’s Leading Budget / No Frills Airline – Air Berlin  
World’s Leading Business Car Rental Company – Avis  
World’s Leading Business Class Airline – Qatar Airways  
World’s Leading Business Class Only Airline – EOS Airlines  
World’s Leading Business Hotel – Pan Pacific Singapore  
World’s Leading Casino Resort – Genting Highland Resort, Malaysia  
World’s Leading Charter Airline – XL Airways  
World’s Leading Chauffeur Limousine Company – Brunel Carriage  
World’s Leading Conference & Convention Centre – Internationales Congress Centrum Berlin (ICC Berlin), Germany  
World’s Leading Conference Hotel – Emirates Palace, Abu Dhabi  
World’s Leading Conservation Company – Shamwari Game Reserve  
World’s Leading Credit Card – Visa  
World’s Leading Cruise Brand – Carnival Corporation  
World’s Leading Cruise Destination – Jamaica  
World’s Leading Cruise Line – Royal Caribbean International  
World’s Leading Cruise Operator – Star Clippers  
World’s Leading Design Hotel – Adam & Eve at Belek, Turkey  
World’s Leading Destination – London, England  
World’s Leading Destination Marketing Campaign – Incredible India  
World’s Leading Dive Destination – Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt  
World’s Leading Diving Resort – The Royal Savoy Sharm El Sheikh  
World’s Leading Economy Class – American Airlines  
World’s Leading Exhibition Centre – Dubai World Trade Centre  
World’s Leading Family All-Inclusive – Beaches Resorts  
World’s Leading Family Luxury Resort – Madinat Jumeirah  
World’s Leading Family Resort – Beaches Turks & Caicos Resort & Spa  
World’s Leading Ferry Operator – P&O Ferries  
World’s Leading First Class Airline – Cathay Pacific Airways  
World’s Leading Flat Bed Seat – Etihad Airways  
World’s Leading Golf Resort – Casa de Campo  
World’s Leading Heritage Hotel – The Raj Palace  
World’s Leading Honeymoon Destination – St. Lucia  
World’s Leading Hotel – Burj Al Arab, Dubai
World’s Leading Hotel Brand – Marriott Hotels Resorts & Suites  
World’s Leading Hotel Serviced Apartment – The Grosvenor House Dubai  
World’s Leading Leisure Car Rental Company – Europcar  
World’s Leading Luxury Cruise Line – Silversea Cruises  
World’s Leading Luxury Hotel Brand – Jumeirah  
World’s Leading Luxury Specialist Tour Operator – ITC Classics  
World’s Leading Luxury Train – Pride of Africa – Rovos Rail  
World’s Leading New Airline – Oasis Hong Kong Airlines  
World’s Leading New Destination – Abu Dhabi  
World’s Leading New Resort – The Venetian Macau  
World’s Leading Private Jet Charter – Royal Jet Group  
World’s Leading Rail Service – Eurostar  
World’s Leading Resort – Forte Village Resort, Italy  
World’s Leading Safari & Game Reserve – Shamwari Game Reserve  
World’s Leading Ski Destination – St. Moritz  
World’s Leading Ski Resort – The Fairmont Chateau Whistler, British Columbia, Canada  
World’s Leading Spa Resort – Aldemar Olympian Village, Greece  
World’s Leading Sports Resort – Casa de Campo  
World’s Leading Suite – Palace Suite, Emirates Palace, Abu Dhabi  
World’s Leading Thalasso & Spa Resort – Aldemar Royal Mare Village  
World’s Leading Theme Park/Attraction – Disney World, Florida  
World’s Leading Tour Operator – Kuoni  
World’s Leading Tourism Development Project – Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi, Tourism Development & Investment Company (TDIC)
World’s Leading Tourism Property Development Company – Nakheel  
World’s Leading Tourist & Convention Bureau Orlando/Orange County Convention & Visitors Bureau, Inc. (Orlando CVB)  
World’s Leading Tourist Information Website – South African Tourism www.southafrica.net  
World’s Leading Travel Agency – Regency Travel & Tours, Qatar  
World’s Leading Travel Company – Carlson-Wagonlit  
World’s Leading Travel Destination Television Commercial – One Northeast, England  
World’s Leading Travel Exhibition – ITB, Berlin  
World’s Leading Travel Experience by Train – Vancouver – Banff, GoldLeaf Service, Rocky Mountaineer Vacations, Canada  
World’s Leading Travel Television Commercial – Etihad Airways  
World’s Leading TV Channel for Travellers – BBC World  
World’s Leading Villa – Round Hill Hotel & Villas  
World’s Most Romantic Destination –  Maldives  
World’s Most Romantic Resort –  Sandals Grande Antigua Resort & Spa

A very big ‘well done’ to all of the above!


Comments (6)

  1. This is a great list, thanks for posting! I really like this blog too, good job.

  2. Imagine if every Winner had to give an acceptance Speech, The awards ceremony would take days!
    Some Good Worthy winners.

  3. Paul Johnson says:

    Hi both of you… thanks for dropping by with your comments. I’d like to see the comments part of the blog getting a little more active in 2008, so I really appreciate you taking a moment to scribble a few words!

    When you consider that these are only the world awards (there’s also 10 regional categories, as well as categories for ‘green’ and ‘travel technology’), it’s a little hard to digest such a mass of awards, isn’t it?!

    Paul

  4. Kay says:

    Sorry, but I don’t like this list at all, for several reasons.

    How on earth did British Airways win the World’s Leading Airlines award? In my experience of BA, which is fairly extensive – and even includes First Class flights (not many!) – I have rarely enjoyed a flight with them. They are expensive and I feel sure that they send their staff to a special school to teach them how to be rude to passengers. BA gets two thumbs down from me.

    My best experiences of airlines have been with Emirates and Virgin.

    World’s Leading Attraction – the pyramids. Bah! There are so many touts there pestering tourists that it can be an extremely unpleasant experience.

    I would say that there are other impressive attractions where you can enjoy a more comfortable and enjoyable day out. Angkor Wat in Cambodia springs first to my mind.

  5. Paul Johnson says:

    I suspect it won’t please you to hear, Kay, that BA also won the award in both 2006 and 2007!

  6. Kay says:

    It doesn’t surprise me, though.

    However, there is one great thing about BA being expensive. In my husband’s previous life, working for HMG, BA was used as the ‘marker’. Thus if you needed to get from A to B they calculated the fare based on BA Business Class. Yippee!

    With that budget, we travelled from London to Delhi with Virgin. We’d booked Premium Economy but they gave us a free upgrade to Upper Class. Wow! That was nice. And then with all the money we’d saved we had several nice little holidays (from Delhi) to Thailand too.

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