Jamaica had a big night at the World Travel Awards' Caribbean & The Americas Gala Ceremony 2026, held at Princess Grand Jamaica as the centrepiece of World Travel Week. The island swept the headline categories, named the Caribbean's leading destination and leading cruise destination, while the Jamaica Tourist Board picked up the leading tourist board award too. It was a fitting result for a country that doubled as host and champion of the evening.
Elsewhere around the region, the winners read like a shortlist for anyone planning a Caribbean escape. Turks & Caicos took leading beach destination, Anguilla bagged both the culinary and luxury island titles, and Saint Lucia proved its romance credentials by winning leading honeymoon destination and leading adventure tourism destination in the same night.
The Americas produced their own standouts. Miami Beach was named North America's leading beach destination, with SUMMIT One Vanderbilt taking the leading tourist attraction title in New York. Cancún had the strongest haul of the ceremony with three wins: leading beach, city and meetings & conference destination for Mexico and Central America. In South America, Quito was crowned leading city destination, Chile took leading adventure tourism destination and its national tourist board SERNATUR also won, while Medellín's convention bureau completed a strong Colombian showing alongside Quito.
The host venue did well for itself. Princess Grand Jamaica collected Caribbean's leading resort and leading conference hotel, and its sister property Princess Senses The Mangrove won leading adult-only all-inclusive resort. The newcomer categories are worth flagging for anyone chasing what's fresh: Waldorf Astoria New York and One&Only Moonlight Basin in Montana won North America's new hotel and new resort titles, Hotel 1829 in the US Virgin Islands and Secrets St. Lucia took the Caribbean equivalents, Park Hyatt Cabo Del Sol won in Mexico, and Four Seasons Cartagena claimed South America's leading new hotel.
There were greener signals too. Hotel Las Torres Patagonia in Chile was named South America's leading green hotel, Peru's Treehouse Lodge took the eco-lodge title, and Chile's Concha y Toro wine centre won the leading tourism winery category.
For holidaymakers, the value here is simple: this is a crowd-sourced benchmark from thousands of industry voters, so it doubles as a quality filter. If you're torn between Caribbean islands for a honeymoon, a food-focused trip or a beach week, the 2026 winners point straight at Saint Lucia, Anguilla and Turks & Caicos. And with Jamaica claiming both destination and cruise honours, expect its profile - and visitor numbers - to keep climbing.
The gala was the fourth stop on the World Travel Awards' Grand Tour 2026, following events in Zanzibar, Dubai and the Maldives, with Montenegro next and a Grand Final in Tanzania to come. The week in Jamaica continues through 14 October with the MICE, travel tech, cruise, social media, culinary and 10 Best award programmes.
