The Grand Finale of the 25th edition of the World Travel Awards was held in Lisbon on Saturday night, at which the Secretary of State for Tourism, Ana Mendes Godinho, accepted the prize for Portugal being voted the Best Destination in the World.
Lisbon won awards for Best Destination City and Best Destination City Break in the world and Portugal’s national tourist board, for the second year running was voted the Best Official Tourism Organisation in the World, with visitportugal.com once again voted the World's Leading Tourism Authority Web site.
TAP was elected as the World's Leading Airline for Africa and the World's Leading Airline for South America, and its Travel Magazine, UP, won the World Leading Travel Magazine award.
The Corinthia Hotel Lisbon received the award for Best City Hotel in the World; the Olissippo Lapa Palace won the Best Classic Hotel in the World; The Vine Hotel in Funchal was honoured as Best Design Hotel in the World; the Algarve's Vila Joya Hotel Restaurant received the distinction of Best Fine Dining Restaurant in the World; the prize of World's Best Luxury Resort went to the Conrad Algarve and Amazing Evolution received the distinction of Best operator of Boutique Hotels in the World.
The awards ceremony took place last Saturday night, December 1st, at the Pátio da Galé, in Terreiro do Paço, the first time the Tourism Oscars have been held in Portugal.
Portugal won 17 World Travel Awards, a historic result that compares with seven prizes last year and four in 2016.
Secretary of State for Tourism, Ana Mendes Godinho, accepted the top award, saying, "it is a great honour to receive this distinction again. Being the world champions in tourism for the second consecutive year is a sign of Portugal's ability to appeal internationally, thanks to the work of all the Portuguese. Portugal is indeed a must-see destination. This is, above all, a prize for the Portuguese."
At the European level, the Algarve won eight prizes. The Quinta do Lago Hotel was awarded Best Beach Resort and Vila Joya now is the World's Best Boutique Resort in the world. The Conrad Algarve won the award for best Lifestyle Resort.
As for the Ria Park Hotel in Almancil, it was doubly distinguished, in the Europe category, as Best Family Resort and Best Hotel for Conferences.
Finally, Vila Vita Parc, in Alporchinos won the prize for Europe's Leading Luxury Hotel Villas and Dunas Douradas in Almancil is Europe's Leading Villa Development in Europe.
The Monte Santo Resort in Carvoeiro, was distinguished as the Most Romantic Resort in Europe.
Created in 1993, the World Travel Awards distinguish the best examples of good practice in tourism on a global scale and enable winners to receive reams of press coverage.
See also:
'Portugal - 'the best destination in the world with the worst airport in the world'
