Qatar Airways, Emirates, Etihad, flynas and major hotel brands also feature among the regional winners announced at a gala ceremony in Dubai.
World Travel Awards announced its 2026 Middle East winners at a gala ceremony at One&Only One Za’abeel in Dubai.
- Dubai was named Middle East’s Leading Destination, while Abu Dhabi took the business travel destination title and Saadiyat Island won the beach destination category.
- Saudi Arabia received the regional cultural and heritage destination awards, with Riyadh named Middle East’s Leading City Destination.
- Qatar Airways was named Middle East’s Leading Airline, while Emirates, Etihad Airways and flynas collected major airline-category awards.
- Hospitality winners included Emirates Palace Mandarin Oriental, Mandarin Oriental Downtown Dubai, InterContinental The Red Sea Resort and Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts.
(NEWS) DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, 2026-Sep-14 — /Travel PR News/ — Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia emerged among the most visible destination winners in the 2026 Middle East edition of the World Travel Awards, as the regional tourism industry gathered in Dubai for a ceremony spanning destinations, hotels, airlines, resorts, attractions and travel services.
The awards were presented at One&Only One Za’abeel on 13 September, with the organisers publishing a full list of Middle East winners for 2026. The results offer a broad snapshot of how destinations and travel brands are positioning themselves across a region where leisure tourism, business travel, luxury hospitality and aviation capacity continue to compete for international attention.
Destination awards spread across the UAE and Saudi Arabia
Dubai received the title of Middle East’s Leading Destination 2026, while Abu Dhabi was named Middle East’s Leading Business Travel Destination. Saadiyat Island, part of Abu Dhabi’s tourism offer, took the regional beach destination award.
Saudi Arabia collected both the heritage and cultural destination titles, and Riyadh was named Middle East’s Leading City Destination. Elsewhere in the UAE, Ajman was recognised as the region’s emerging tourism destination and Mleiha National Park in Sharjah received the national park award.
The distribution of destination honours across several Gulf markets reflects the breadth of the current regional tourism push. Rather than concentrating solely on established city-break hubs, the 2026 results also highlight beach tourism, heritage, culture, business travel, nature and emerging destinations as distinct areas of competition.
Luxury hotels and new openings take prominent roles
In hospitality, Emirates Palace Mandarin Oriental in Abu Dhabi was named Middle East’s Leading Luxury Hotel, while Four Seasons Hotel Abu Dhabi at Al Maryah Island received the city resort title.
Two recently opened properties also featured in the newcomer categories. Mandarin Oriental Downtown, Dubai was named Middle East’s Leading New Hotel, and InterContinental The Red Sea Resort in Saudi Arabia received the new resort award.
At brand level, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts was voted Middle East’s Leading Luxury Hotel Brand, while The Ascott Limited received the serviced apartment brand award. The wider regional winners list includes a much larger field of hotel, resort, serviced-apartment, dining, wellness and accommodation categories.
Qatar Airways takes the headline airline title
Aviation was another major strand of the Dubai ceremony. Qatar Airways was named Middle East’s Leading Airline 2026 and also appears on the complete winners list as the business-class category winner.
Emirates received the first-class airline award, while Emirates Skywards was named the region’s leading airline rewards programme. Etihad Airways collected the cabin crew and economy-class titles, and flynas was named Middle East’s Leading Low-Cost Airline.
The full results also extend beyond carriers themselves. Dubai International Airport was named Middle East’s Leading Airport, and the awards list includes airport lounges, airport hotels, duty-free operators, private aviation, cruise ports, travel management companies and other parts of the wider visitor economy.
How the World Travel Awards voting works
The 2026 Middle East results form part of the 33rd World Travel Awards programme. According to the organisation’s published methodology, its awards operate across country, regional and world tiers. Voting is conducted online and includes both travel-industry executives and consumer travel buyers, with verified travel-professional votes carrying additional weighting.
That structure is important context for readers: the titles represent the outcome of the World Travel Awards voting system rather than an independent editorial ranking. The organisation says votes are internally audited for validity.
Graham Cooke, founder of World Travel Awards, said the Middle East winners were helping to raise standards across the regional travel and tourism sector. His comments accompanied the official announcement of the 2026 Middle East winners.
Regional winners move into the wider 2026 awards cycle
The Dubai ceremony is one stop in the World Travel Awards Grand Tour 2026. The organisers list other ceremonies in the Maldives, Zanzibar, Jamaica and Montenegro, with the programme scheduled to culminate in a Grand Final in Tanzania.
For travel businesses, the Middle East results provide another marker of how strongly the region’s major tourism economies are competing across multiple segments at once. Dubai remains prominent in destination, meetings and aviation categories; Abu Dhabi continues to feature across business travel, resorts and hospitality; and Saudi Arabia’s awards underline its growing emphasis on culture, heritage and new resort development.
The complete set of regional awards, including country-level and specialist categories, is available on the World Travel Awards Middle East 2026 winners page.
