Australia triumphs at World Tourism Awards

Australia had a night of triumph at the inaugural World Travel Awards Australasia Ceremony at Sydney’s Observatory Hotel on Tuesday, June 10.

They emerged with a fistful of overall category prizes including Qantas, who scooped the coveted Leading Airline and Sydney, which captured the much sought Destination honour.

But there was also major acclaim for New Zealand, the Cooks Islands, French Polynesia and Fiji.

Australia walked away with 13 of the main awards from across the region while New Zealand’s The Spire, Queenstown took the Leading Boutique Resort as well as Leading Ski Resort. The InterContinental Hotel in Wellington was awarded the Leading Business Hotel.

Given the stiff competition on the night, perhaps the biggest achievement was reserved for the smaller destinations.

French Polynesia, for example, was delighted to take the Leading Spa Resort with the Bora Bora Nui Resort & Spa.

The Fiji delegation also celebrated by becoming the first winners of the new category of Leading Green Hotel - presented to the Jean-Michel Cousteau Fiji Islands Resort.

The unique charm of the Cook Islands’ Aitutaki helped it to win not only the Leading Beach at One Foot Island, but also the Leading Boutique Resort at the Pacific Resort.

A total of 429 travel companies and businesses were nominated for the event.

In all, there were a total of 52 award categories including travel operators, airlines, hotels, spas, resorts and destinations in Australia, New Zealand, the Cook Islands, French Polynesia, Guam, Micronesia Federated State, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu.

All the winners for Australasia are listed on the World Travel Awards website www.worldtravelawards.com