They say travel is the healthiest addiction and why not! The wanderlust first leaves you speechless and then turns you into a nomad with a bag full of stories. The widely acclaimed travel magazine Travel + Leisure India & South Asia on its 11th Anniversary in the South Asian region, announced the results of its sixth edition of the India’s Best Awards (IBA2017) recently. The polling was conducted through their website over a period of two months, which culminated in the form of a grand awards ceremony at ITC Maurya, New Delhi.
The guest of honour for the IBA2017 award night was Press Department and Official spokesman of the German Embassy, Mr. Hans Christian Winkler. The event also saw many eminent dignitaries in the travel and lifestyle industries like Mr. Inaki Vitorika, Cultural Counsellor of the Embassy of Spain, and Mr. Sujit Banerjee, Secretary-General, World Travel and Tourism Council. Celebrity beautician Shenaz Hussain, Priya Paul – chairperson of The Apeejay Surendra Park Hotels, fashion designer Raghavendra Rathore, and Kalyani Chawla, Founder, Lulu & Sky presented the awards to the most loved travel brands.
With 97 awards across 57 categories that varied from the best country, emerging destination, cruise, business hotel, airport, destination spa, and more in India and across the world, IBA 20117 Awards were an attempt to select the best from a multitude of tourism destinations and travel service providers. While for most award category, voting by readers of Travel + Leisure India & South Asia was the deciding factor, there were two awards that were decided by Tripoto – one of the largest online travel communities in India. This year a new category was also introduced, that of Best Digital Influencer.
In the words of Björn Rettig, CEO Burda India – “Travel+Leisure India & South Asia is undoubtedly the market leader in the luxury travel segment in India. Travel+Leisure is entirely devoted to connecting high net worth individuals to the world’s most extraordinary places and curate unmatched premium experiences, whether in print or digital. For our readers travelling is their lifestyle, and we are proud that so many of them voted for their favourites to make them win accolades at this year’s spectacular Travel+ Leisure awards.”
“It is with great pleasure that we host India’s Best Awards every year. Over the past two months, our team has tabulated the votes that over 450 nominees have received in 57 categories through our online voting process on travelandleisureindia.in. In our sixth edition of India’s Best Awards this year, we introduced 10 new categories so that due credit is given to destinations and hotel brands that have re-positioned themselves anew. These include awards for the Best Luxury Hotel Chain-India, which went to ITC Hotels, Best Domestic Food Destination which went to West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh, and Best International Adventure Destination which went to Canada and South Africa,” Parineeta Sethi, Director, Exposure Media Marketing Private Ltd said at the event.
Here’s the complete list of India’s Best Awards 2017 Winners:
List of Contents
India’s Best Awards (IBA2017) Winners in INTERNATIONAL Category:
Best Country – Switzerland
Best City – Dubai, UAE & Melbourne, Victoria
Best Emerging Destination – Korea & Bahrain
Best Heritage Destination – Israel & Mexico
Best Honeymoon Destination – France & Thailand
Best MICE Destination – Hong Kong & Japan
Best Wedding Destination – Abu Dhabi & Macau
Best Food Destination – Rome, Italy & Madrid, Spain
Best Family Destination – Austria
Best Luxury Destination – Baden Baden, Germany & Monte Carlo
Best Adventure Destination – South Africa & Canada
Best Business Hotel – Jumeirah Emirates Towers Hotel, Dubai
Best Heritage Hotel – The Fullerton Hotel, Singapore
Best Luxury Resort – Taj Exotica Resort & Spa, Maldives & The Venetian Macao
Best Hotel Group – Hyatt Hotels Corporation & AccorHotels
Best Destination Spa – Palazzo Versace Dubai & Anantara Bophut Koh Samui Resort
Best Hotel Loyalty Programme- SPG – World of Hyatt
Best Golf Resort- Address Montgomerie, Dubai
Best Luxury Safari Resort- Ulusaba Private Game Reserve, South Africa
Best Amusement Park- Dubai Park & Resorts
Best Theme Park- Universal Studios Singapore
Best Integrated Resort- Resort World Sentosa, Singapore
Best Cruise- Regent Seven Seas Cruises
Best One-Stop Shopping Destination – Bicester Village, UK & Fashion Island California
India’s Best Awards (IBA2017) Winners in DOMESTIC Category:
Best State – Gujarat & Tamil Nadu
Best Emerging Destination – Assam
Best Heritage Destination – Madhya Pradesh & Odisha
Best Honeymoon Destination – Kerala & Jammu & Kashmir
Best Wedding Destination – Goa & Rajasthan
Best Family Destination – Himachal Pradesh
Best Spiritual Destination – Bihar
Best Adventure Destination – Sikkim
Best Food Destination – Andhra Pradesh
Best New Hotel – The Lalit Mangar, Faridabad & Andaz Delhi
Best Heritage Hotel – Taj Falaknuma Palace, Hyderabad & The Imperial New Delhi
Best Boutique Hotel – Namah & Niraamaya Retreats Cardamom Club, Kerala
Best Hotel for Women Travellers – The Leela Ambience Gurugram Hotel & Residences & Park Hyatt Hyderabad
Best Business Hotel – Novotel Hyderabad Convention Centre & Le Méridien New Delhi
Best Family Hotel – Fairmont Jaipur & InterContinental Chennai Mahabalipuram Resort
Best Luxury Business Hotel – Park Hyatt Chennai & The St. Regis Mumbai
Best Luxury Hotel – The Oberoi Amarvilas, Agra & ITC Grand Bharat, Gurugram
Best Luxury Resort – Park Hyatt Goa Resort and Spa & Kumarakom Lake Resort, Kerala
Best Destination Spa – Shamana Spa, Grand Hyatt Goa & Ananda Spa, Ananda in the Himalayas, Rishikesh
Best Hotel Group – The Park Hotels
Best Luxury Hotel Chain – ITC Hotels
Best Airport-International– Singapore Changi Airport
Best Airline- International- Singapore Airlines and Emirates
Best Airport-India– Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi
Best Airline-Domestic- Vistara
Best Airport Lounge- Etihad, Abu Dhabi & Lufthansa, Frankfurt
Best Duty-Free Shopping- Delhi Duty Free & Munich Airport Duty Free
Best Luxury Travel Curator- TUI & Cox & Kings India
Best Travel Photographer (Tripoto Powered) – Aamir Wani
Best Travel Writer (Tripoto Powered)– Sreshti Verma
Best Digital Influencer – Rufus Reynolds
I so wish to travel places and stay at the best locations ????
Wow you have covered the event so well. And glad that Delhi Duty Free won an award too.
Such an amazing award function. I haven’t seen its likes before. Thank you for sharing the exhaustive list of awards!
Woah, seems the event was all happening as well as super fun!
Best honeymoon destination was fascinating for me as Kerala and j&k both are beautiful. Somehow I thought Singapore and Malaysia or Italy would top that
Such an important topic which rarely gets talked about, the event looks very interesting
and prestigious.Thanks for sharing!
Great that is well written article. Exhaustive coverage. Thanks for sharing
Good to know the best picks in the travel industry, will definitely refer to your blog whenever I’m traveling next
Great pictures and award ceremony cover-up with every detail in it , will surely refer your blog.
Thank you for sharing about this event. Seems like a great award function
Wow, so many awards and it’s good to felicitate those to appreciate and accelerate the growth of the industry…looks like happening event
Wow, That is really an amazing award function..
This is such a good news…. Will definitely read your blog and experience before traveling
That list of who is best in business will definitely come handy when traveling .
Great post… I wish I could have attended the awards personally.. travel is such a passion for me.. and it feels great to see all those winning names..
Oh great
It is the most sought after annual event. I am happy to see Taj as best luxury resort. Taj is one of my favourite.
I always focus on awards for movies, it’s first time I came to know about such exciting categories and loved to read this… Great writeup.
Amazing event of IBA 2017. Congratulations all the winners.