World Travel Awards, Explained

The World Travel Awards are among the most visible travel honors in hotel and destination marketing. Founded in 1993, they run regional ceremonies through the year and finish with a Grand Final that names “World’s Leading” winners.

How the World Travel Awards Work

• Regions first. Ceremonies for regions such as Europe, Africa, the Middle East, the Indian Ocean and Oceania name the “Leading” winners for each area.
• Then the world. The Grand Final names World’s Leading winners across destinations, hotels, airlines and travel services.
• Voting. Votes come from travel professionals and, in recent cycles, from consumers too.
• Many categories. The 2025 Grand Final, held in Bahrain in December 2025, presented hundreds of awards.

Using WTA Titles in Sales

Because the awards cover so many categories and regions, almost every major destination, hotel group and airline can point to one. That is useful, but it also means a single “Leading” title rarely settles a choice on its own. Use it as supporting evidence alongside fit: the client’s budget, travel style and dates.

Quote the exact title, the region or world level, and the year: “World’s Leading Destination 2025, World Travel Awards” is accurate; “voted the best in the world” is not. More on that on our citing awards page.

Hotels and Travel Companies Win Too

Destinations get the headlines, but most WTA titles go to hotels, resorts, airlines, airports, tour operators and travel technology firms, each at country, regional and world level. A resort that is “Leading Resort” in its country has won a narrower title than one named World’s Leading in its category, and the difference matters when you compare two properties for a client. Ask the supplier which level and year its title refers to, and check it against the published results.

To sell these winners yourself, see Be a Travel Agent. For the cruise categories of travel honors, see Cruise Industry Awards.