The Hot List: Travel Weekly’s 2018 Readers Choice Awards Winners

In early December, Travel Weekly announced the winners of their 2018 Readers Choice Awards. Here are some highlights, just in case you missed the announcement.

Delta Airlines took home four awards in the airline category: Best Domestic, Best International, Best Sales & Service and Best Overall. Pretty impressive! The upcoming year looks good for them, especially since they’re doing some exciting things with technology at some of their terminals.

There are some exciting winners in the hotel chains category. Marriott International won best in Hawaii/South Pacific as well as Best Domestic, Best Sales & Service and Best Overall. Karisma Hotels & Resorts won Best Boutique, and it’s easy to see why when you consider their unique and very focused properties throughout the Caribbean, Colombia and the Balkans (Serbia and Croatia).

We’ve got a lot to talk about in the tour operators category. Funjet Vacations took home the Best Domestic Packaged award as well as Best Mexico. Apple Vacations rightfully won Best Caribbean and Travel Impressions claimed the Best Packaged Sales & Service award. Globus was a favorite in four categories: Best Asia/Pacific, Best Europe, Best Escorted Sales & Service and Escorted Overall. For escorted tours, they are a force to be reckoned with.

Let’s talk cruises. Royal Caribbean International secured the Best Caribbean, Best Entertainment and Best Sales & Service awards. One look at their new Symphony of the Seas and it’s clear why they’re a favorite for entertainment. Royal Caribbean’s Harmony of the Seas won Best Overall Individual Cruise Ship, no doubt a big win. Norwegian Cruise Line won Best Hawaii/Pacific Cruise Line and their Norwegian Bliss won Best New Cruise Ship. With an electric car racetrack, open-air laser tag course and Aqua Park, this is a clear winner. Another big win for Norwegian is Best Agent Loyalty Program.

Now don’t forget about destinations, who have their own award category. We were excited to see Las Vegas’ win for Best U.S. City. It is “The Entertainment Capital of the World” after all. Riviera Maya won Best Mexico Destination, which is great recognition for the key vacation destination.

With all this positive news, it looks like 2019 is going to be a great year for Travel Weekly’s Readers Choice Award winners and we’re excited to have many of the winners bookable on VAX!