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    Leading travel brands awarded at the World Travel Awards 2012

    September 21, 2012
    Travel Conference /Marts / MICE News
    Leading travel brands awarded at the World Travel Awards 2012

    Africa’s leading travel brands have been awarded at the World Travel Awards (WTA) 2012, recognising travel brands that have made the greatest contribution to the industry in quality, innovation and service, over the past year.Topping their field were South African Airways, Abercrombie & Kent, andBeyond, Avis, Travel with Flair and Mantis Collection.

    Morocco was acknowledged as a stronghold in the tourism industry with the the ancient medina of Marrakech beating tough competition from the likes of the Kalahari Desert (Namibia), Kruger National Park (South Africa), Mt. Kilimanjaro (Tanzania) and Cape Town (South Africa) to win the coveted title of “Africa’s Leading Destination”.

    Sharing in the awards were nations across the continent, with Hilton Cairo Zamalek Residences (Egypt) voted “Africa’s Leading New Hotel” and Magical Kenya was named “Africa’s Leading Tourist Board”.

    South Africa stacked up on accolades, with notable wins including Saxon Boutique Hotel, Villas & Spa (“Africa’s Leading Luxury Hotel”), The Blue Train (“Africa’s Leading Luxury Train”), Ellerman House & Villa (Africa’s Leading Luxury Villa), Fairmont Zimbali (“Africa’s Leading Tourism Development Project”) and Shamwari Game Reserve (“Africa’s Leading Safari Lodge”).

    WTA president and founder Graham E. Cooke said the winners are drawn from the breadth of Africa, reflecting how the outstanding natural attractions of the continent are being complimented with a growing portfolio of luxury facilities.

    Similarly,leading travel brands from across the region have shared top honours at the World Travel Awards (WTA) Caribbean & The Americas Gala Ceremony 2012 hosted at Beaches Turks & Caicos Resort Villages & Spa .A packed delegation of VIPs, senior tourism figures and international media travelled from more than 30 nations to attend the event, which was supported by Turks & Caicos Tourist Board and Scotiabank.

    St Lucia won the coveted title of “Caribbean’s Leading Honeymoon Destination”, Coco Reef Resort (Tobago) picked up “Caribbean’s Leading Hotel”, while Sir Richard Branson’s Necker Island (British Virgin Islands) was voted “Caribbean Leading Private Island”.

    Buccament Bay Spa & Resort (St Vincent) nudged ahead of The Hotel Chocolat (St Lucia), Hotel Riu Palace Bavaro (Dominican Republic), The Magdalena Grand Beach Resort (Tobago) and Cofresi Palm Beach & Spa Resort (Dominican Republic) to win “Caribbean’s Leading New Hotel”.Jamaica’s continuing rise up the global tourism order was acknowledged after it was named “Caribbean’s Leading Destination”.

    In North America, Las Vegas saw off competition from New York, Miami, San Francisco, Montreal and Vancouver to win the coveted title of “North America’s Leading Destination”.New York won the “North America’s Leading City Break Destination” title, while American Airlines was voted “North America’s Leading Airline”.

    Meanwhile, Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) was voted “South America’s Leading Destination”, beating off stiff competition from the likes of Easter Island (Chile), Galapagos Islands (Ecuador) and Machu Picchu (Peru).

    The WTA awards programme, hailed as the ‘Oscars of the travel industry’ by the global media, highlights and rewards those travel brands that have made the greatest contribution to the industry over the past year.WTA president Graham Cooke underlined the depth and quality of the travel and tourism sector across the region.

    Other WTA Grand Tour 2012 regional heats include Dubai (UAE), Algarve (Portugal), and Singapore.The winners of these legs will go head-to-head in WTA’s Grand Final, which takes place at The Oberoi, Gurgaon on December 12th 2012.

    WTA was launched in 1993 to acknowledge and recognise excellence in the global travel and tourism industry.Now celebrating its 19th anniversary, it is regarded as the very highest achievement that a travel product could hope to receive.

    WTA’s global media partner network includes International Herald Tribune, CNBC Arabiya, Newsweek, ASTA Network, National Geographic Traveller, Access New York, Travel & Leisure China, Khaleej Times, Trade Arabia, TTN, Trav Talk India, Publituris, ABTA Magazine, Outlook Traveller, Breaking Travel News, eTurboNews and Travel Daily News International.This global media partner network has a monthly readership of 1.7 million and a TV audience reach of 90 million. Source: World Travel Awards

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      FACTS —

      Tourism helps in:

      👉Reducing poverty

      👉Reducing Inequalities

      👉Promoting gender equality

      👉Fostering decent work and economic growth

      World Tourism Day 2021: ‘Tourism for Inclusive Growth’

      In 2019, Travel & Tourism’s direct, indirect and induced impact accounted for:
      -US$8.9 trillion contribution to the world’s GDP
      -10.3% of global GDP
      -330 million jobs, 1 in 10 jobs around the world
      -US$1.7 trillion visitor exports (6.8% of total exports,
      28.3% of global services exports)
      -US$948 billion capital investment (4.3% of total
      investment)