The World Travel Awards Grand Final was held in Doha last week, and saw the very crème de la crème of the travel industry worldwide awarded for their excellence.

Recognised by many as being the ‘Oscars of the Travel Industry’ by the Wall Street Journal, this ceremony marked the end of a year-long search for the very best that travel has to offer, and was selected by a range of esteemed industry professionals and consumers.

A plethora of gongs was handed out on the night, most notably to Jumeirah, who took home the prestigious World Excellence in Service award, and Etihad Airways, who landed the World’s Leading Airline award for the third year in a row.

There were no surprises in the All Suite Hotel category – the palatial Burj Al Arab took this honour, for the seventh time in the 13 years of the category’s history! It also happily took home the overall World’s Leading Hotel gong on the night too for the seventh year running!

Trou Aux Biches in Mauritius, which was re-opened at the end of 2010 after an extensive refurbishment, won the award for World’s Leading Beach Destination, while the World’s Leading Eco Resort & Spa was awarded to Thailand’s Soneva Kiri by Six Senses, and World’s Leading Eco-Lodge went to Sanbona Wildlife Reserve – Dwyka Tented Lodge in South Africa.

Jamaica was the surprise winner of the World’s Leading Honeymoon Destination prize, the first time it has taken home the award since 2001, but it remained in keeping with this category’s history of always going to a Caribbean destination, with previous winners being Barbados, Antigua & Barbuda, and most prolifically of late, St Lucia.

Jebel Ali Golf Resort & Spa was awarded the World’s Leading Family Resort award, while Mardan Palace in Turkey won the World’s Leading Luxury Resort prize, and One&Only The Palm in Dubai was awarded World’s Leading New Resort.

All in all it was a fantastic night for world travel, and we are delighted that so many of our hotel and airline friends were honoured for their services to the industry.