Phulay Bay won the Global Hotel of the Year category. Credit: fivetonine/Shutterstock.

The winners of the World Luxury Awards have been announced at the 17th annual gala – and have taken to social media to celebrate.

The event, which took place on 28 October and was held at Grand Hyatt Athens in Greece, recognizes work in the luxury sector at hotels, spas and restaurants globally. This year saw almost 300 establishments receive a range of awards.

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Phulay Bay was the winner of the Global Hotel of the Year award, the most prestigious prize in the luxury hotels category. The first of the new Ritz-Carlton Reserve offering, Phulay Bay is a 54-villa and pavilion boutique by the Andaman Sea in Krabi, Thailand.

Speaking about the awards, Jana Stoman, the Executive Manager for the World Luxury Awards, said: “We wish to congratulate all our winners, also to those who were not able to be with us. A special congratulations to our overall winners: the Global Hotel of the Year – Phulay Bay, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve, the Global Spa of the Year – Spirit Hotel Thermal Spa, the Global Restaurant of the Year – Le Pavillon and the Global Travel Establishment of the Year – Australia Zoo.”

Winners from various categories took to social media to celebrate their success, including the Makakatana Bay Lodge, based on the banks of Lake St Lucia in South Africa. It won the global Luxury Safari Lake Lodge award.

The Radisson Blu Hotel & Convention Centre, based in Kigali Rwanda, celebrated receiving two awards – Best Luxury Banquet/Event Hotel in East Africa and Best Luxury Hotel and Conference Centre in all of Africa.

Barcelona By Road also shared its award in the Wine Tours category with its followers, giving a nod to its team.

Luxury travel has been a growing sector over recent years, and the trend has been reflected in social media influencer posts tracked by GlobalData analytics.

The hashtag #luxurytravel has seen particularly stark growth since January 2022 as customers returned to travel with larger budgets and renewed enthusiasm post-pandemic.

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