Considered the Oscar of the tourism awards, the WTA have a long relationship with Portugal, having already recognised two years in a row the Algarve’s region, in the South of the country, as the World’s Leading Beach Destination. Despite not triumphing for the third time in this category, Portugal embraces three significant awards in 2022: the World’s Leading Island Destination, the World’s Leading Seaside Metropolitan Destination, and the World’s Leading City Destination.
The World Travel Awards was established in 1993 to acknowledge, reward and celebrate excellence across all tourism industry sectors. This year the WTA granted Madeira, Lisbon, and Porto respectively as the best destinations in each category disputed, showing that Portugal is one of the best tourist destinations in several aspects. Despite those three classifications, Portugal received nine other awards in different nominations.
Nominated for the 8th consecutive time, the Autonomous Region of Madeira is granted as the World’s Leading Island Destination by the most relevant tourist award in the world, the WTA. Since 2015 the Portuguese island obtained its first recognition and since then every year Madeira leaving behind great competitors, such as Bali (Indonesia), Barbados, Bora Bora, French Polynesia, Crete (Greece), Fiji, Hawaii, Mallorca (Spain), and others.
The Autonomous Region of Madeira is a Portuguese archipelago located in the Atlantic Ocean close to the Moroccan coast on the African continent. The province includes the islands of Madeira, Porto Santo, the Desertas, and the Ilhas Selvagens, having as its capital the city of Funchal, located on the island of Madeira. With a population of 105,795, Funchal is the sixth largest city in Portugal, and recently became an investment hub for the digital nomad community that grows exponentially on the island. The traditional Portuguese culture, together with the volcanic geologic formation, and its tropical environment are a great attraction for its visitors.
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The Portuguese Capital Lisbon also got into the spotlight during the WTA Grand Final Gala Ceremony, due to its riviera coastline in the Atlantic Ocean. It is not a surprise that Lisbon received the World’s Leading Seaside Metropolitan Destination, considering its amazing seaside urban beaches, from Lisbon to Cascais, and after, to the Cabo da Roca, the Westernmost point of continental Europe. The award was granted to Lisbon over famous cities such as Cape Town (South Africa), Dubai (UAE), Miami (Florida, USA), and the Region of Attica (Greece).
Being the Country’s Capital, Lisbon is one of the most important European cultural and counter-culture centres. With a growing international community and a huge historical heritage, Lisbon is a great spot for those looking to live in a vibrant environment. One of the hottest European capitals, Lisbon’s blue ski offers sunshine all year, giving its residents a great quality of life. The urban beaches on its coastline are a must-have destination for all those looking to share a cosmopolite life, together with the relaxing white-sand beach escapes.
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Another wonderful honour is the recognition given to the city of Porto, the second large city in Portugal. The city was granted the World’s Leading City Destination 2022, over a great competition with 20 leading cities, such as Acapulco and Cancún (Mexico), Las Vegas (Nevada, USA), London (England), Melbourne and Sydney (Australia), New York City (USA), Queenstown (New Zealand), along others.
Despite being a big city in Portugal, Porto is also historically important to the country and was proclaimed a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1996. Among all the city characteristics, its size is the most intriguing, as it stands in a small urban area spread through a very irregular territory along the hills. Getting around on foot is easy in Porto as the main attractions and services are considerably close to each other, although the up and down is a fact. Porto offers a great quality of life, with modern public transportation trams crossing the city from one point to another, and car cables bringing visitors from the riverside to the top of the hill.
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After receiving 30 European awards, Portugal shines in the 29th annual WTA Grand Final Gala Ceremony. In total Portugal received 12 world awards, confirming the country’s touristic potential. The 12 award categories were:
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