The world’s most successful travel and tourism brands have been recognised for their roles in spearheading the global travel and tourism recovery at the World Travel Awards 2012 Grand Final Gala Ceremony in Doha, Qatar.

Companies including American Express, Starwood Hotels, Lufthansa, Abercrombie & Kent, Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, Virgin Atlantic Airways, Europcar, Etihad and Incredible India all received awards at the ceremony on 11 January 2012.

The World Travel Awards Ceremony was held in partnership with Qatar Tourism Authority at Katara Cultural Village, Doha’s ground-breaking new arts and exhibitions complex.

Last night’s awards featured winners from the World Travel Awards’ five 2011 regional heats competing head to head.

India saw off the likes of London, New York, Cape Town, Rio de Janeiro and Sydney to win the World’s Leading Destination award in a year in which international arrivals edged closer to the target of one billion travellers by 2016.

One of the most prolific successes was for Etihad Airways, which was voted World’s Leading Airline for the third year in a row.

It was also an evening of celebration for Qatar, with Doha being voted “World’s Leading Business Travel Destination”, Qatar Airways named “World’s Leading Airline Business Class”, and Regency Travel & Tours winning “World’s Leading Travel Agency”.

Qatar Tourism Authority Chairman, Mr. Ahmed Al Nuaimi, said: “We are delighted to be honoured as the World’s Leading Business Destination by our peers in the global hospitality industry. This is a great achievement and solidifies Qatar’s premier position as a great place to do business as well as one with first class leisure, sporting and cultural attractions”.

Graham Cooke, President and Founder, World Travel Awards, said: “The past year has continued to challenge every strata of travel and tourism. However our Grand Final winners have all demonstrated their world-class pedigree over this period, and are currently spearheading the global recovery of travel and tourism. In doing so they are also reinforcing our industry’s role as one of the mainstays of the global economy.”

“Qatar in particular is playing a decisive role in generating new opportunities in travel and tourism, hence our decision to host our Grand Final in Doha. More than US $100 billion worth of infrastructure is due to be completed before the 2022 Fifa World Cup,” he added.

Established 19 years ago, World Travel Awards is committed to raising the standards of customer service and overall business performance throughout the international tourism industry.

The 2011 WTA nominations featured more than 5,000 companies in 1,000 categories across 162 countries. The winners were selected by more than 210,000 industry professionals and consumers worldwide.

WTA partnered with tourism marketing firm Phenomena to bring the ceremony to Qatar.

Photo: Brad West, Manager Middle East , Virgin Atlantic Airways at the World Travel Awards. The airline won the award for the World’s Leading Airline Inflight Entertainment.

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