The Tribune

THE Bahamas shone bright at this year’s World Travel Awards and North American gala ceremony.

Sandals Emerald Bay in Exuma took a top spot as “Leading Conference Hotel”, making it the first resort in Sandals’ brand to ever clinch the category.

And, for the third consecutive year, Sandals Emerald Bay was named the “Caribbean’s Leading Luxury All-Inclusive Resort”. It also came away with the award for being the “Bahamas’ Leading Golf Resort”.

On New Providence, Sandals Royal Bahamian Spa Resort and Offshore Island received awards for being the “Caribbean’s Leading Resort”, and for the third consecutive year and fifth time overall, grabbed top spot as the “Bahamas’ Leading Spa Resort”.

Sandals Resorts International (SRI) was honoured with prestigious recognition at this year’s WTAs held on September 14, 2013 at Sandals Grande Antigua Resort and Spa.

The company collected an unprecedented total of 14 awards.

In addition to this distinguished accomplishment, SRI once again received the notable recognition of Caribbean’s Leading Hotel Brand, earning this title for 20 consecutive years.

“We truly value the recognition we receive at the World Travel Awards,” said Gordon “Butch” Stewart, chairman of Sandals Resorts International. “These awards reflect our unwavering dedication to always providing our guests with the best possible experiences and maintaining top luxury standards within the travel industry.”

The World Travel Awards were established in 1993 to acknowledge and celebrate achievements in all areas of the world’s travel and tourism industry and are hailed as “the Oscars of the travel industry”.

This year’s voting campaign reached 348,325 travel professionals and consumers worldwide in more than 22 countries. Nominations for this year’s World Travel Awards were based on the previous year’s voting.