Nakheel, one of the world's largest privately held property developers, has been voted the 'Middle East's Leading Tourism Property Development Company' at the World Travel Awards - Middle East & Africa.
The World Travel Awards (WTA) was established more than a decade ago and is now recognised as the global travel industry's Oscars. This year the WTA made its debut in the Middle East with its first ever regional event, held at the Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday 30th May.
The awards are voted for by travel industry professionals worldwide and this year more than 167,000 people from 200 countries registered to vote for the awards. After claiming the regional prize, Nakheel will now be put forward for the global category to be announced at the end of 2007 - an award Nakheel has won for the past two years.
Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, Nakheel Executive Chairman, said: "The roots of Nakheel are founded in tourism and it is a great honour to be recognised by industry professionals as the region's leading tourism property developer. As symbols of Dubai's progress and ambition, projects such as The Palm and The World are already becoming recognised internationally as 21st century icons to compare with some of the world's best known and loved landmarks."
'Development and tourism go hand in hand in Dubai and Nakheel's waterfront developments provide an ingenious solution to the emirate's limited beachfront, adding more than 1,000km of coastline. It's incredible to think that The Palm Jumeirah alone is more than doubling the number of beachfront hotels in Dubai, with more than 30 hotels and 14,000 rooms.'
Graham E. Cooke, President of the World Travel Awards, said: 'Dubai is being recognised globally as a great tourism success story; the last fifteen years have seen the number of visitors increase more than ten-fold to top more than six million in 2006. That's remarkable growth, and Nakheel's spectacular and iconic real estate developments have played a key part in this. Projects such as The Palm Jumeirah and The World not only stand up as luxury property developments, but upon completion will be tourist attractions in their own right. The extensive global coverage they have gained has been a key factor in promoting Dubai on a world stage - and this has been recognised by travel professionals at the World Travel Awards."
