One&Only One Za’abeel hosted the 13 September gala as Qatar Airways, Jumeirah Al Naseem, Emirates Palace Mandarin Oriental and other regional travel brands collected major honours
One&Only One Za’abeel hosted the World Travel Awards Middle East Gala Ceremony 2026 on 13 September in Dubai.
- Dubai was named Middle East’s Leading Destination 2026 and also won regional titles for meetings and conferences, festivals and events, and tourist board.
- Qatar Airways took Middle East’s Leading Airline, while Etihad Airways and Emirates secured multiple passenger-experience, cabin and loyalty awards.
- Jumeirah Al Naseem was named Middle East’s Leading Hotel and Emirates Palace Mandarin Oriental won Middle East’s Leading Luxury Hotel.
- Host venue One&Only One Za’abeel won Middle East’s Leading Luxury City Hotel as well as corresponding UAE and Dubai titles.
(NEWS) DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, 2026-Sep-14 — /Travel PR News/ — Dubai reinforced its position at the centre of the Middle East travel industry on 13 September as the World Travel Awards named its 2026 regional winners during a gala ceremony at One&Only One Za’abeel. The host city collected several of the evening’s destination honours, while airlines, hotel groups, resorts and tourism organisations from across the region shared the major sector awards.
The ceremony followed a 12 September preview from World Travel Awards that positioned the Dubai gathering as a meeting point for leading hospitality, aviation, destination and tour-operating brands. The official Middle East 2026 winners list is now live, turning the event from an industry gathering into a broad snapshot of the brands and destinations that secured this year’s regional titles.
Dubai takes a cluster of destination and visitor-economy awards
Dubai was named Middle East’s Leading Destination 2026 and also took the titles for Middle East’s Leading Meetings & Conference Destination and Middle East’s Leading Festival & Event Destination. Dubai Tourism was named Middle East’s Leading Tourist Board, while Dubai International Airport won Middle East’s Leading Airport and Burj Khalifa was recognised as Middle East’s Leading Tourist Attraction.
The results also spread recognition across the wider United Arab Emirates. Abu Dhabi was named Middle East’s Leading Business Travel Destination, Saadiyat Island took Middle East’s Leading Beach Destination, Ajman was named Middle East’s Leading Emerging Tourism Destination and Mleiha National Park won Middle East’s Leading National Park.
Elsewhere in the region, Riyadh was named Middle East’s Leading City Destination, Saudi Arabia won both the heritage and cultural destination categories, Doha took Middle East’s Leading Sports Tourism Destination, Oman was named Middle East’s Most Romantic Destination and Bahrain received Middle East’s Leading Wedding Destination.
Qatar Airways, Etihad and Emirates split major aviation honours
The aviation awards reflected the depth of competition among Gulf carriers. Qatar Airways was named Middle East’s Leading Airline 2026 and also won Middle East’s Leading Airline – Business Class.
Etihad Airways secured Middle East’s Leading Airline – Customer Experience, Middle East’s Leading Airline – Economy Class, Middle East’s Leading Cabin Crew and Middle East’s Leading Airline Inflight Entertainment. Its Premium Lounge at Zayed International Airport was also named the region’s leading business-class airline lounge.
Emirates collected Middle East’s Leading Airline – First Class, Middle East’s Leading Airline Brand and Middle East’s Leading Airline Rewards Programme for Emirates Skywards. The Emirates First Class Lounge at Terminal 3 of Dubai International Airport won the first-class airline lounge category. Saudi carrier flynas was named Middle East’s Leading Low-Cost Airline and also took the low-cost airline cabin crew award.
Hotels and resorts share recognition across the region
Hospitality awards were distributed across established luxury names and newer properties. Jumeirah Al Naseem was named Middle East’s Leading Hotel 2026, while Emirates Palace Mandarin Oriental took Middle East’s Leading Luxury Hotel. Marriott International won Middle East’s Leading Hotel Group and Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts was named Middle East’s Leading Luxury Hotel Brand.
Other notable winners included Atlantis, The Palm as Middle East’s Leading Resort, Sofitel Dubai The Palm as Middle East’s Leading Beach Resort, Anantara Mina Ras Al Khaimah Resort as Middle East’s Leading Luxury Resort and Four Seasons Resort Dubai at Jumeirah Beach as Middle East’s Leading Luxury Beach Resort.
The awards also highlighted recent openings and development activity. Mandarin Oriental Downtown, Dubai won Middle East’s Leading New Hotel, while InterContinental The Red Sea Resort in Saudi Arabia was named Middle East’s Leading New Resort. Shura Island, Saudi Arabia, received the title of Middle East’s Leading Tourism Development Project.
The host venue leaves with its own regional title
The setting for the ceremony was itself among the winners. One&Only One Za’abeel was named Middle East’s Leading Luxury City Hotel 2026, as well as United Arab Emirates’ Leading Luxury City Hotel and Dubai’s Leading Luxury City Hotel.
The hotel sits within the One Za’abeel development and is connected by The Link, a sky concourse suspended between the towers. World Travel Awards selected the property for its Middle East Gala Ceremony 2026, which began with a welcome reception before the gala dinner and awards programme in the Solar Ballroom.
The combination of hosting duties and a regional category win gave One&Only One Za’abeel an unusually visible role in the evening, while also underlining Dubai’s continued use of high-profile hospitality venues for travel-trade events and industry recognition programmes.
Grand Tour continues beyond the Middle East
The Dubai ceremony forms part of the World Travel Awards Grand Tour 2026. The programme follows the Africa gala in Zanzibar and includes further regional ceremonies in the Maldives, Jamaica and Montenegro before the Grand Final in Tanzania.
World Travel Awards was established in 1993, and its official winners page identifies 2026 as the 33rd edition of the programme. The awards span destinations, airlines, airports, hotels, resorts, tour operators, travel agencies, attractions and other tourism businesses, with regional winners progressing through a wider annual awards cycle.
For Middle East travel businesses, the 2026 results provide another measure of how fiercely contested the region’s tourism landscape has become. Dubai’s concentration of destination, airport and tourism-board wins sits alongside strong airline performances from Qatar, Abu Dhabi and Dubai, while the hotel results show recognition spread across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Oman rather than concentrated in a single market.
