The awards' ceremony held in partnership with Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) recognise and honour leaders and top performers from the world's hospitality and travel industry, Qatar News Agency (QNA) reported.
Hailed as 'The Oscars of the Travel Industry' by the Wall Street Journal, WTA is recognised worldwide as the ultimate travel accolade.
Indeed, it was a special evening of celebration for Qatar with Doha winning the 'World's Leading Business Travel Destination' and Aspire Zone named as the 'World's Leading Sports Tourism Development Project'.
Qatar Airway's continued its award-winning run of 2011, bagging two awards - World's Leading Airline, Business Class and World Leading Airline Lounge, Business Class.
Qatar's Regency Travel and Tours won the fifth award bagging the 'World's Leading Travel Agency' while W Hotel Doha won the 'World's Leading Hotel and Residences'.
Among the individual awards category, Qatar's Ibrahim Hassan Al Asmakh won the 'Travel Personality of the Year'.
Aspire Zone's winning the award was global recognition of Qatar's fine credentials in the world of sports, particularly football with the number of high-profile Asian and GCC level tournaments hosted by Qatar Football Association under the umbrella of Qatar Olympic Committee.
Commenting on Qatar's slew of awards, Aspire Zone Foundation Director General for Aspire Logistics, Abdulaziz Al Mahmoud, told QNA, "Winning the world's Leading Sports Tourism Development at WTA 2012 is a testament to our commitment of making Qatar the new global destination of sports.
"The award is even more profound when you consider the scale of infrastructure at Aspire Zone Foundation (AZF) which features some of the world's finest sport stadia and venues offering a stimulating combination of sport, sports medicine and research and sport education," he said.
Hailing the role of Qatar's sports infrastructure attracting fans, Al Mahmoud said: "Our world-class events and facilities drew hundreds of thousands of visitors to AZF in 2011 whether for the AFC Asian Cup or the Pan Arab Games. Barely into 2012, and AZF has already been involved with the Doha GOALS Pre-Forum, the inaugural Al Kass International Cup U-17, a youth leadership camp with the United Nations and the ATP season opener the Qatar ExxonMobil Open Tennis Tournament."
The evening marked the culmination of a year-long search for the very best travel and tourism brands in the world and featured winners from WTA's five 2011 regional heats competing head to head.
On Qatar's upward graph in business tourism, QTA Chairman Ahmed Al Nuaimi said, "We are delighted to be honoured as the 'World's Leading Business Destination' by our peers in the global hospitality industry.
This is a great achievement and solidifies Qatar's premier position as a great place to do business as well as one with first class leisure, sporting and cultural attractions."
Nuaimi congratulated the other winners from Qatar saying "all provide the highest level of service and expertise and this has been recognised by the industry".
WTA President and Founder Graham Cooke said, "Qatar is playing a decisive role in generating new opportunities in travel and tourism hence our decision to host our Grand Final in Doha.
More than US$100 Billion worth of infrastructure is due to be completed before the 2022 FIFA World Cup among other projects."
Dubai's Burj Al Arab bagged the award for the 'World's Leading Hotel' while Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority won the 'World's Responsible Tourism Award' and India's The Oberoi Gurgaon won the 'World's Leading Luxury Hotel honour which was the first award of the evening.
Comment:
Just curious, who are the judge panels and what are the evaluation criterias?
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