La Cigale Hotel has again been recognised at “the Oscars of the travel industry” - the 2013 World Travel Awards (WTA) - during the final grand ceremony held to culminate its year-long activities and also to coincide with its 20th anniversary.
The hotel, which was also the host of the gala dinner, was awarded the World Excellence Service Award in Hospitality and World’s Leading Hotel Dining and Entertainment Experience.
The ceremony, graced by Qatar Museums Authority chairperson Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad al-Thani and HE Sheikh Jassim bin Abdulaziz al-Thani, saw over 1,500 nominees in 173 categories with entries competing from hotels, travel agencies, leading airlines and tourism companies from all over the world.
More than 90 awards were announced by the event’s master of ceremony, Turkish broadcaster Ece Vahapoglu, who also has her own TV shows and best-seller books.
The event was attended by more than 500 guests, including French Ambassador Jean-Christophe Peaucelle, Italian Ambassador Guido De Sanctis, Turkish Ambassador Ahmet Demirok and Lebanese Ambassador Hassan Youssef, official delegates from the Spanish and American embassies, Luciano Gonzalez Lopez-Salazar and Nathalie Hernandez, and other notable guests.
Speaking at the ceremony, WTA president and founder Graham E Cooke said: “To hold our grand final of 2013 alongside our 20th anniversary has indeed been an honour for the World Travel Awards. We have long regarded the Middle East as a hub of cutting-edge sophistication, luxury and innovation in the world tourism landscape and the grand final could not have been held in a more dynamic and important city.”
He thanked La Cigale for hosting the ceremony, saying: “This is truly an outstanding hotel that has added opulent sophistication to our event, with the best in luxury accommodation, world-class cuisine, spectacular entertainment and a sensational event space.”
La Cigale sales and marketing director Housni el-Yaman said, “It is a big privilege for us to host such an international event in Doha as we are able to clinch two new awards for the second time within two years, proving our presence on the world tourism map.”
He described the awards as new achievements for the hotel, saying they recognised the uniqueness of its services and affirmed the continued efforts to raise the hotel’s standards.
He said La Cigale hosted the event alongside Qatar National Bank as the event partner and Doha Insurance Company as the
main sponsor.
La Cigale Hotel owner Victor Agha (left) with Graham E Cooke.
