Portugal earns 20 Awards, including top honours for the Algarve, Lisbon, and Madeira

The World Travel Awards (WTA) have named the Algarve the World’s Leading Beach Destination in 2024, beating 22 other renowned beach destinations around the world.

Whilst the Algarve has already won Europe’s Leading Beach Destination 10 times, Algarve tourism chief André Gomes told Breaking Travel News (BTN) that winning the world title is “another level altogether” and “truly an incredible honour.”

“We are lucky to have a broad variety of beaches from small coves backed by colourful limestone cliffs to long, sandy beaches. The west coast beaches in the protected Vicentina Natural Park are incredibly scenic, uncrowded and are a go-to destination for surfers,” Gomes said.

With a culture and gastronomy deeply influenced by the coastline and proximity to the sea, “visitors can enjoy the freshest sea food” from small quayside eateries to Michelin-starred restaurants”, Gomes added.

The country also celebrated significant wins at the awards ceremony. Madeira was hailed as the World’s Leading Island Destination, whilst Lisbon was named the Leading City Break Destination. Meanwhile, Porto was crowned the Leading Seaside Metropolitan Destination, Braga claimed the title of Leading Emerging Tourism Destination, and the Azores archipelago brought home the award for Leading Adventure Tourism Destination.

Finally, Arouca’s Passadiços do Paiva walkways were once again awarded the title of Leading Adventure Tourist Attraction, whilst the Dark Sky Alqueva received the Responsible Tourism Project award for the third time since 2022.

TAP Air Portugal was also recognised as the Leading Airline for flights to Africa and South America.

The full list can be viewed on the WTA website.

Article originally published by Michael Bruxo on Portugal Resident.

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