Tourism | Local resorts recognized at World Travel Awards gala

Several Macau resorts have been given accolades from the annual World Travel Awards Asia and Australasia Gala Ceremony 2016. The Venetian Macao, the Grand Hyatt Macau, City of Dreams Macau and Galaxy Macau were all honored in the ceremony.
The event was held at the InterContinental Danang Sun Peninsula Resort in Vietnam on October 14 and 15, attracting industry leaders from across Asia and Australasia. A selection of senior travel executives, travel buyers, tour operators and agents, as well as the general public voted for the award winners.
Among the leading recipients of awards this year were The Venetian Macao, the Grand Hyatt Macau and City of Dreams Macau, which secured the awards for “Macau’s Leading Casino Resort”, “Macau’s Leading Hotel”, and “Macau’s Leading Resort” respectively, though the differences in the qualifying criteria between the awards are unclear.
Moreover, The Venetian Macao was nominated for a total of 13 awards this year, taking away “Macau’s Leading Hotel Suite 2016” in addition to the aforementioned accolade.
Galaxy Macau was another recipient of an award this year – “Asia’s Leading Casino Resort 2016” – following on from accolades in 2013 and 2015. This year the resort was also nominated for the “World’s Leading Entertainment Resort 2016”.
Studio City Macau was also recognized at the World Travel Awards ceremony, winning the “Asia’s Leading New Resort 2016” award. The resort was nominated for a total of five categories this year, including “Asia’s Leading Casino Resort 2016”, “Macau’s Leading Casino Resort 2016”, and “Macau’s Leading Resort 2016”.
Meanwhile, Malaysia emerged from the ceremony holding the title of “Asia’s Leading Destination”, outshining the usual competitors of Macau, Thailand and Singapore.
Japan was recognized as “Asia’s Leading Adventure Tourism Destination”, while the Philippines won “Asia’s Leading Beach Destination”.
This year’s event was the 23rd edition of the awards ceremony, which first started back in 1993. According to the institution, the World Travel Awards was established “to acknowledge, reward and celebrate excellence across all key sectors of the travel tourism and hospitality industry.” DB