Qatar Tribune

REGENCY Travel & Tours won the Leading Travel Agency award for the fifth time in a row at the World Travel Awards (WTA) in Doha recently.

The grand finale of the World Travel Awards, considered the highest level of recognition in the travel industry, was hosted for the first time in Qatar.

The most important decision- makers in global travel and tourism attended the show, which was held in partnership with Qatar Tourism Authority, at Katara Cultural Village.

Tareq Abdullatif Taha, chief executive officer of Regency Travel & Tours, received the award in the presence of an elite assembly of senior travel, tourism and hospitality executives.

He was accompanied to the event by the senior management team of Regency Travel and Tours and senior management team of Regency Group Holdings’ subsidiaries.

Ibrahim Hassan al Asmakh, president of Regency Group Holding, parent company of Regency Travel and Tours, was recognised as the Travel Personality of the Year 2011.

Hassan Ibrahim al Asmakh, Regency Group Holding vice-president for business development, received the award on behalf of his father.

Taha said, “I would like to congratulate all the winners, especially President of Regency Group Ibrahim Hassan al Asmakh for winning the Travel Personality of the Year Award and our esteemed partners Qatar Airways, Qatar Tourism Authority and Aspire Zone.

“An event of this scale being staged in Qatar is a testimony of the country’s increasing popularity among the travel industry and customers globally as a destination of choice for business and leisure alike.” He said Regency Travel and Tours intends to launch new products and open new outlets this year.

The event marked the culmination of a year-long search for the very best travel and tourism brands in the world, and featured the winners from WTA’s five 2011 regional heats competing head to head.

Hailed as the ‘Oscars of the travel industry’ by the Wall Street Journal, WTA is recognised worldwide as the ultimate travel accolade. Its 2011 Grand Tour featured regional heats in Dubai (UAE), Antalya (Turkey), Sharm El Sheikh (Egypt), Bangkok (Thailand) and Montego Bay (Jamaica).

At the event, Doha was voted ‘World’s Leading Business Travel Destination’, Qatar Airways was named ‘World’s Leading Airline Business Class’, while Aspire Zone was named the ‘World’s Leading Sports Tourism Development Project’, in recognition of the country’s superlative sporting credentials.