- 3rd success in European Leg after Guiness Storehouse & Titanic Centre
- Dublin Convention centre and Sandymount Hotel win categories
- Centre opened in 2007
- Smallest attraction by visitor numbers ever to win European section
Spike Island visitor centre run by Cork County Council in Cóbh Harbour has been named Europe’s leading tourist attraction at the 2017 World Travel Awards in St Petersburg.
Dublin Convention centre and Sandymount Hotel made it Ireland’s most successful evening ever at the awards by winning the convention centre and green hotel categories.
The awards ceremony in St Petersburg was attended by the Mayor of County Cork, Councillor Declan Hurley, Cork County Council Divisional Manager Declan Daly and Spike Island General Manager John Crotty (pictured). Spike Island also nominated for Chambers Ireland excellence award and Irish tourism award 2017.
Spike Island won from a shortlist including the Eiffel Tower, Buckingham Palace and Rome’s Colosseum to win the award.
It is Ireland’s third successive success in the competition, after Guinness Storehouse in 2015 and Titanic Centre in 2016.
The 104-acre Spike Island was a monastic settlement in the seventh century, anEnglish artillery fortification from the 18th century, and a prison from where thousands of convicts were transported to Australia in the 19th century.
It remained, controversially, under English control after the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921, and was handed over to the Irish State in 1938. It operated as a prison again from 1985 until the last of the prisoners left in 2004.
Cork County Council and Fáilte Ireland invested €6m developing Spike Island and it opened as a tourist attraction in 2007. Spike Island is visited by 40,000 a year and hopes to increase this to 100,000 by 2020.
The Irish hotel awards were won by Powerscourt Hotel, Co Wicklow and Merchant Hotel Belfast (overall), Conrad Dublin (luxury), Presidential Suite @ Castlemartyr Resort (suite), Hayfield Manor Cork (boutique), Shelbourne Dublin and Hilton Belfast (business) and Dream Apartments Belfast (serviced apartments)
Portugal and Portugal’s tourist board won the destination awards, Turkish the airline award and Norwegian the cruise award.Overall Portugal won 19 awards, Italy eleven and Turkey ten. Seamus Coleman‘s Cruise Co.uk, based in Birmingham, won European cruise agent, theoretically a fourth win for Ireland on the night.
- See programme for the event here.
Irish Winners
- Boutique Hotel Hayfield Manor
- Business Hotel The Shelbourne Dublin, A Renaissance Hotel
- Car Rental Company Avis
- Hotel Powerscourt Hotel
- Hotel Suite Presidential Suite @ Castlemartyr Resort
- Luxury Hotel Conrad Dublin
Northern Ireland winners
- Business Hotel Hilton Belfast
- Car Rental Company Avis
- Leading Hotel The Merchant Hotel Belfast
- Leading Serviced Apartments Dream Apartments
Europe winners
- Airline Turkish Airlines
- Airline – Business Class Aeroflot – Russian Airlines
- Airline – Economy Class Lufthansa
- Airline – First Class Lufthansa First Class
- Airline Brand Aeroflot – Russian Airlines
- Airline to Africa TAP Portugal
- Airline to Asia British Airways
- Airline to North America KLM – Royal Dutch Airlines
- Airline to South America TAP Portugal
- Airport Zurich Airport, Switzerland
- Airport Hotel Hilton London Heathrow Airport, England
- Airport Lounge Lufthansa First Class Lounges @ Frankfurt Airport
- All Suite Hotel Hotel Les Ottomans, Turkey
- All-Inclusive Resort Pestana Porto Santo All Inclusive Beach & Spa Resort, Portugal
- Beach Destination The Algarve, Portugal
- Beach Hotel Porto Zante Villas & Spa, Greece
- Beach Resort Hotel Quinta do Lago, Portugal
- Boutique Hotel Vila Joya, Portugal
- Boutique Resort Vila Joya, Portugal
- Business Car Rental Company Hertz
- Business Hotel Mövenpick Hotel Istanbul, Turkey
- Business Hotel Brand InterContinental Hotels & Resorts
- Car Rental Company Europcar
- Casino Resort Lopesan Costa Meloneras, Spain
- Charter Airline Thomas Cook Airlines
- Chauffeur Company Sixt Limousine Service
- City Break Destination Geneva, Switzerland
- City Destination Saint-Petersburg, Russia
- City Hotel Hilton Berlin, Germany
- City Tourist Board Visit London
- Conference Hotel Hilton Molino Stucky Venice, Italy
- Corporate Hotel Brand Meliá Hotels International
- Cruise Destination Venice, Italy
- Cruise Line Norwegian Cruise Line
- Cruise Port Porto de Lisboa, Portugal
- Cruise Travel Agent Cruise.co.uk
- Design Hotel Altis Belém Hotel & Spa, Portugal
- Destination Portugal
- Destination Management Company Kuoni Destination Management
- Entertainment & Dining Resort Forte Village Resort, Italy
- Entertainment Hotel Rixos Sungate, Turkey
- Family Resort Domes of Elounda, Greece
- Ferry Operator DFDS
- Ferry Website AFerry
- Fully Integrated Resort Cornelia Diamond Golf Resort & Spa, Turkey
- Green Hotel Sandymount Hotel, Ireland
- Green Resort Lefay Resort & Spa Lago di Garda
- Group Tour Operator H&H Touristik
- Hotel Ciragan Palace Kempinski Istanbul, Turkey
- Hotel & Spa Pullman Timi Ama Sardegna, Italy
- Hotel Booking Solutions Provider Roiback – Backhotel
- Hotel Brand Hilton Hotels & Resorts
- Hotel Management Company HotelBrain
- Hotel Residences The Residences at Mandarin Oriental, Bodrum, Turkey
- Hotel Suite The Katara Suite @ Excelsior Hotel Gallia, Italy
- Incentive & Incoming Agency DE&HA Tourism
- Inflight Magazine Up Magazine (TAP Portugal)
- Island Destination Madeira Islands
- Island Resort Pullman Timi Ama Sardegna
- Landmark Hotel Bairro Alto Hotel, Portugal
- Leisure Resort Mriya Resort & Spa
- Lifestyle Hotel Rixos Premium Göcek, Turkey
- Lifestyle Resort EPIC SANA Algarve Hotel, Portugal
- Low-Cost Airline Norwegian
- Luxury All Suite Resort Columbia Beach Resort Pissouri, Cyprus
- Luxury All-Inclusive Resort Gran Castillo Tagoro, Lanzarote
- Luxury Beach Resort Forte Village Resort, Italy
- Luxury Business Hotel Pestana Palace Lisbon, Portugal
- Luxury Car Rental Company Sixt Luxury Cars
- Luxury City Resort Rome Cavalieri, Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts, Italy
- Luxury Family Resort Forte Village Resort, Italy
- Luxury Hotel The Peninsula Paris, France
- Luxury Hotel & Villas Porto Zante Villas & Spa, Greece
- Luxury Hotel Villa The Producer Villa @ The Bodrum by Paramount Hotels & Resorts, Turkey
- Luxury Island Resort JW Marriott Venice Resort & Spa, Italy
- Luxury Lifestyle Resort Conrad Algarve, Portugal
- Luxury Resort Cornelia Diamond Golf Resort & Spa, Turkey
- Luxury Resort & Villas Hotel La Manga Club Principe Felipe, Spain
- Luxury Train Venice Simplon Orient-Express
- Luxury Wedding Resort Grand Resort Lagonissi, Greece
- Marketing Campaign #EuroFoodTrip
- Meetings & Conference Centre The Convention Centre Dublin, Ireland
- Meetings & Conference Destination Barcelona, Spain
- Meetings & Conference Hotel Ria Park Hotel, Portugal
- MICE Hotel EPIC SANA Lisboa Hotel, Portugal
- MICE Resort Mriya Resort & Spa
- New Hotel Lotte Hotel St. Petersburg, Russia
- New Resort Domes Noruz Chania, Autograph Collection, Greece
- Online Travel Agency Booking.com
- Private Jet Charter NetJets Europe
- Regional Airline Aegean Airlines
- Resort Forte Village Resort, Italy
- Resort Villas Elounda Beach Hotel & Villas, Greece
- River Cruise Company DouroAzul
- Safari Tour Operator Yellow Zebra Safaris
- Seafront Resort Elounda Bay Palace, Greece
- Serviced Apartment Brand Citadines Apart’hotel
- Serviced Apartments La Clef Tour Eiffel Paris, France
- Sports Resort Forte Village Resort, Italy
- Theme Park Hotel The Land of Legends Theme Park, Turkey
- Theme Park Resort Disneyland Paris, France
- Tour Operator Thomas Cook Tours
- Tourism Development Project Passadiços do Paiva (Arouca UNESCO Global Geopark)
- Tourist Attraction Spike Island, Ireland
- Tourist Board Turismo de Portugal
- Travel Agency First Choice
- Travel Club DreamTrips
- Travel Management Company FCM Travel Solutions
- Travel Merchandising Solution Provider Amadeus
- Travel Technology Provider Traveltek
- Villa Resort Las Colinas Golf & Country Club, Spain
- Wellness Hotel Grand Hotel Lienz, Austria
- Wholesale Tour Operator H&H Touristik
- Europe’s Most Romantic Resort Monte Santo Resort, Portugal
- Europe’s Responsible Tourism Award Costa Navarino, Greece
