World Travel Awards' 15th Anniversary Grand Tour
MARCH 4, 2008. Recognised as the hallmark of excellence, the world's most comprehensive awards scheme has been acknowledging the leading travel products across the globe for as many as 15 years. Reason enough to celebrate! To mark their 15th Anniversary in great style, the World Travel Awards are now expanding their portfolio by adding another and even bigger global tour of regional awards in order to recognise winners in their own territory and celebrate both individual success and the collective achievements of the industry. Regional awards will be staged in each key geographic region, culminating in the Grand Tour Finale, which will again take place in the beautiful Turks & Caicos Islands in December.
Graham Cooke, President & Founder of the World Travel Awards: "The past year was clearly one of our busiest and most successful. The response to our newly introduced regional-level honours scheme was phenomenal, and we undoubtedly generated a lot more excitement and interest. This year promises to be even better and bigger. With our 15th Anniversary celebrations we yet again aim to recognise more products in the various niches of the tourism industry, and it is needless to say that we seek to top last year's attainments."
The 15th Anniversary Grand Tour will kick off in May with the African Awards taking place in Durban, South Africa. Other chosen locations include Sydney in Australia, Orlando in the US, Crete in Greece, Rio in South America, Abu Dhabi in the Middle East and Delhi in India. These will cover the various country and regional level awards for Australasia, North & Central America, Europe, South America, the Middle East and Asia.
With a Grand Tour Winners Dinner in London, the World Travel Awards will honour the winners of the regional awards, which then will be put forward for their respective world categories - building up the crescendo to the glamorous Grand Finale, the Annual World Travel Awards Gala Ceremony in the Caribbean.
Furthermore, the World Travel Awards aspire to establish a bigger platform for eco-friendly products and services by introducing an exclusive ceremony for the "green" awards, which will be held later during the year at AquaCity in Poprad, Slovakia - the 2007 "World's Leading Green Resort".
In 2007, 1,827 VIP and senior industry figureheads attended the WTA ceremonies. This attendance consisted of the cr`eme de la cr`eme of the travel and tourism trade, the people with the power to make and act out global decision. 72% of attendees occupy leadership roles such as CEO, Chairman, CIO and CFO; MD's and owners/partners account for 19% and senior management make up 9%. 58 different countries were represented from all the leading global power-houses. WTA events are a forum to access, network and do business with the people who shape the industry's future.
Marriott International, Inc. (NASDAQ: MAR) is a global leading lodging company based in Bethesda,Maryland, USA, with more than 4,200 properties in 80 countries and territories. Marriott International reported revenues of nearly $14 billion in fiscal year 2014. The company operates and franchises hotels and licenses vacation ownership resorts under 19 brands, including: The Ritz-Carlton®, BVlgari®, EDITION®, JW Marriott®, Autograph Collection® Hotels, Renaissance® Hotels, Marriott Hotels®, Delta Hotels and Resorts®, Marriott Executive Apartments®, Marriott Vacation Club®, Gaylord Hotels®, AC Hotels by Marriott®, Courtyard®, Residence Inn®, SpringHill Suites®, Fairfield Inn & Suites®, TownePlace Suites®, Protea Hotels® and MoxyHotels®. Marriott has been consistently recognized as a top employer and for its superior business ethics. The company also manages the award-winning guest loyalty program, Marriott Rewards® and The Ritz-Carlton Rewards® program, which together surpass 50 million members. For more information or reservations, please visit our website at 
