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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!

Paul Johnson

Paul Johnson is Editor of A Luxury Travel Blog and has worked in the travel industry for more than 30 years. He is Winner of the Innovations in Travel ‘Best Travel Influencer’ Award from WIRED magazine. In addition to other awards, the blog has also been voted “one of the world’s best travel blogs” and “best for luxury” by The Daily Telegraph.

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6 Comments

  1. 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

  2. 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.

  3. 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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