The World Travel Awards (WTA), billed as the ‘Oscars of the travel industry’, are designed to highlight and reward those travel brands which have made ‘significant contributions’ to the region’s travel sector over the last year.
This year’s red-carpet event takes place in Singapore for the first time, with hundreds of chiefs and decision makers from the region’s top travel brands expected to arrive at the Intercontinental Hotel for what many see as the travel and tourism industry’s most important evening of the year.
Among the brands vying for awards this year include Banyan Tree, Cathay Pacific Airways, Mandarin Oriental, Tourism New Zealand, Le Touessrok Mauritius and The Ritz-Carlton.
The ceremony is being sponsored by TravelRave, one of the most influential travel trade fairs in the Asian region, and will include various entertainment shows and a gala dinner for attendees. Following the dinner, the awards’ presentation will be the highlight of the night.
Graham E.Cooke, President of the WTA, was quick to highlight the significance of Singapore hosting the event for the first time:
“We are delighted to host our first ceremony in Singapore, a decision which reflects its standing as one of the most dynamic destinations in the world. Our partnership with TravelRave is a perfect match. Since its debut in 2010, TravelRave has quickly established itself as the definitive platform for Asia’s travel leaders to maximize the tourism potential of the region.”
“WTA will offer these senior decision-makers a unique opportunity to savor and celebrate their achievements of the past year with their industry peers.”
WTA Europe awards in Portugal earlier this year
Andrew Phua of the Singapore Tourism Board added his own comments:
“Singapore is honoured to partner World Travel Awards to host the prestigious Asia, Australasia & Indian Ocean Ceremony 2012. In recognising excellence in the travel and tourism industry, the awards ceremony sets off the spirit of TravelRave in sharing best practices, celebrating our successes, and motivating our travel partners to collaborate for the future.”
The World Travel Awards 2012 for Asia, Australasia and the Indian Ocean are the final regional event in this year’s WTA Grand Tour, which has seen it scour the globe to identify and reward the most innovative and successful travel brands throughout the world. The winners of tonight’s event will later go head-to-head with the winners of previous heats in Dubai, Portugal and the Turks & Caicos at the WTA Grand Finals, set to take place on December 12 at The Oberoi Hotel in New Delhi, India.
Images via www.worldtravelawards.com