Saturday 20 / April / 2024
Muscat: With 16 grand prizes, during the 26th World Travel Awards the Sultanate’s tourism sector has received a major shot in the arm.
While Oman Airports took three prizes, and the Sultanate’s national carrier Oman Air won four, the Sultanate also won the World’s Leading Tourism Development Company, World’s Leading Green Resort awards among other prizes.
Under the patronage of His Highness Asa’ad bin Tariq bin Taimur Al Said, the winners were announced on November 28.
Hosted by the Sultanate under the exclusive sponsorship of Oman Airports, the ceremony of the largest travel and tourism event in the world was attended by Dr. Ahmed Mohammed Salem Al Futaisi, Minister of Transport, alongside over 600 representatives from the global airlines and hospitality sectors. Up for grabs among more than 180 participating countries were 144 prizes from which the Sultanate was able to pick up 16 grand awards.
Oman Airports shone at the ceremony after winning three awards, the first of which was the parent company being renowned as the World’s Leading Airport Operator, the second for Muscat International Airport for the World’s Leading Airport Website. The third award went to Salalah Airport, which was ranked as the World’s Leading Regional Airport.
Oman Air, in turn, won four international awards. It was ranked as the World’s Leading Airline – First class, while its programme “Sinbad” received the accolade of the World’s Leading Airlines Programme. This was followed by the award for the World’s Leading Airline to the Middle East, and for the World’s Leading Airport Lounge – Business Class.
Commenting on their participation, Sheikh Aimen bin Ahmed Al Hosni, Chief Executive Officer of Oman Airports said, “The travel and tourism sector is one of the most promising sectors for the future of the national economy in terms of diversifying the sources of income away from the oil and gas sector. With the building of a strong infrastructure at the airports and internal road network, this opportunity has become extremely favourable. As an enabling sector for the tourism industry, our initiative to host the world’s largest travel and tourism event aims to enhance the Sultanate’s presence on the map of the most prominent destinations in the region.”
“The Sultanate hosted more than 600 representatives of international travel and tourism companies who attended the ceremony, which was an incredible opportunity for their counterparts in the Sultanate and those working in this field to consolidate relations and build trade partnerships to enhance their performance and increase the number of tourists coming to Oman. The global media coverage that accompanied the event from the international media, which highlighted the promising potential of the Sultanate at the level of tourism, such as, global network TV5 that covered the ceremony directly on its channels, is a great added value to the Sultanate’s efforts in promoting tourism,” Al Hosni added.
The Sultanate has also won an international award for the World’s Leading Nature Destination, which enhances its presence on the list of preferred tourist destinations for the year 2020. Jetex Oman was awarded the World’s Leading FBO Terminal award, while Anantara Al Jabal Al Akhdar Resort and OMRAN were awarded the World’s Leading Green Resort and the World’s Leading Tourism Development Company, respectively. Furthermore, W Muscat won the World’s Leading New Hotel award, the Al Bustan Palace received the accolade of the World’s Leading Palace Hotel, the Chedi Muscat was awarded as the World’s Leading Luxury Honeymoon Resort and the Oman Exhibition & Convention Centre was recognised as the World’s Leading New Exhibition & Convention Centre. Last but not least, Zahara Tours in Oman won the World’s Leading Adventure Tour Operator award.
Commenting on the ceremony, Graham Cooke, Founder and President of the World Travel Awards said, “We are delighted to be hosting our Grand Final Ceremony of the 2019 World Travel in a very beautiful city like Muscat. I believe that after seeing various Omani companies win so many awards, I am confident that the Sultanate of Oman is leading the way towards enhancing the performance of its travel and tourism sectors, to become one of the most important sources of its economic income. The Sultanate hosts an immense pioneering potential, through its location at the heart of the world, its unique environment as well as the hospitality that characterises the Omani people, making it a favorite location for millions of tourists."
“We thank our partners at Oman Airports for organising the 26th edition of the World Travel Awards, which witnessed positive feedback from all guests around the world. We look forward to strengthening our cooperation with them in the upcoming years to highlight the great potential of the Sultanate and its civil aviation. Both of which, have undergone a major transformation over the past few years, making Oman one of the leading players in the regional and global travel sector,” Cooke added.
The Grand Final Gala Ceremony of the World Travel Awards, held at the Royal Opera House in Muscat, is the last and the largest award ceremony in the world, and comes after a series of regional celebrations to recognize excellence in each continent, where the celebrations this year included Montego Bay (Jamaica), Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates), Mauritius, Madeira (Portugal), La Paz (Bolivia), Phu Quoc (Vietnam).
