The annual awards, voted for by trade professionals and members of the public online, are held in Portugal in October and all the winners will progress to the Grand Final at the end of the year.
Among the UK nominees, The Dorchester and The Lanesborough in London are both in the running for Europe's Leading Hotel, InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) is nominated in the Europe's Leading Hotel Brand category and the Jumeirah Carlton Tower hotel is up for five awards including Europe's Leading Business Hotel.
Organisations nominate themselves for the awards and the WTA has announced the number choosing to take part has risen 17 per cent from last year. Graham E. Cooke, president of the WTA, said the awards, founded in 1993, were benefiting from the economic climate. “In these times of global economic austerity, the ability to pinpoint quality travel products remains paramount to both business and consumer travellers. Winning a World Travel Award is a brand’s gold seal of travel excellence, which is why our 2012 programme has attracted a record number of nominees,” he said.
Full details of the nominees and how to vote for the winners are online - www.worldtravelawards.com/vote.