Maldives has defended several prestigious destination awards at the African and Indian Ocean Gala Ceremony of the World Travel Awards, further cementing the island nation’s place as the most sought after holiday destination in the world.
Held at the Durban International Convention Centre (Durban ICC) in South Africa on October 6, the red-carpet Africa and Indian Ocean Gala Ceremony gathered hospitality leaders from across the region to see who amongst them had been voted the best in the business.
At the ceremony, the Maldives once again beat rival African and Indian Ocean destinations, including Seychelles, Madagascar, Mauritius and Reunion Islands, to defend the awards for Indian Ocean’s Leading Destination, Indian Ocean’s Leading Beach Destination and Indian Ocean’s Leading Dive Destination.
“Maldives had won prestigious positions in various categories over the years. This year’s awards are yet again another tremendous achievement for the Maldives as a tourist destination. Being a winner of most awards in the most prestigious categories truly benchmarks the destination profiling at the highest level,” a statement issued by Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) read.
With the latest win, the Maldives had secured the Indian Ocean’s Leading Destination award for the 12th time, Indian Ocean’s Leading Beach Destination for the sixth time and the Indian Ocean’s Leading Dive Destination for the fourth time.
World Travel Awards was established in 1993 to acknowledge, reward and celebrate excellence across all sectors of the tourism industry. Today, the World Travel Awards brand is recognised globally as the ultimate hallmark of quality, with winners setting the benchmark to which all others aspire.
Each year, World Travel Awards covers the globe with a series of regional gala ceremonies staged to recognise and celebrate individual and collective success within each key geographical region. World Travel Awards Gala Ceremonies are widely regarded as the best networking opportunities in the travel industry, attended by government and industry leaders, luminaries and international print and broadcast media.
The 2018 African and Indian Ocean Gala Ceremony marked the sixth leg of the WTA Grand Tour 2018 – a series of regional events to acknowledge the world’s outstanding travel brands. Events on the tour include Ras al Khaimah (United Arab Emirates), Athens (Greece), Hong Kong, Guayaquil (Ecuador) and Montego Bay (Jamaica).
The regional winners will progress to the Grand Final 2018, which is being hosted in Lisbon (Portugal) on December 1.