The who’s who of travel and tourism are heading to Jamaica for tonight’s World Travel Awards 2010 The Americas Ceremony.

Sandals Whitehouse European Village & Spa, located on Jamaica’s beautiful south coast, is making the final preparation ahead of what promises to be the biggest night of the year travel and tourism in the region.

Leading travel companies, operators and destinations from across North, Central, South America and the Caribbean will battle it out to see who will walk away with the coveted World Travel Awards trophies.

“We are thrilled to be hosting the World Travel Awards Americas Gala Ceremony at Sandals Whitehouse,” said Sandals Resorts Founder and Chairman Gordon “Butch” Stewart. “This magnificent resort located in such a pristine setting as Jamaica’s stunning south coast, is the perfect backdrop to showcase the best that the region has to offer.”

Described as the ‘Oscars of the travel industry’ by the Wall Street Journal, the event – now in its 17th year – is universally recognised as a major champion of excellent customer service, encouraging and inspiring products and services to improve business performance and innovation.

Voting has been taking place throughout the year for highly contended categories such as North America’s Leading Airline, South America’s Leading Destination, the Caribbean’s Leading Beach Resort and Central America’s Leading Hotel Brand. There are categories for each overall region as well as categories for individual countries.

John Lynch, Jamaica’s Director of Tourism, is pleased that the island was selected to host the event. “Jamaica is honoured to be chosen as the host destination for the prestigious Americas gala of the 2010 World Travel Awards. We are confident that the event will showcase the destination to a global audience, demonstrating the reason Jamaica has enjoyed tremendous success over the years.”

Graham E Cooke, Founder and President, World Travel Awards, added: “Jamaica is the perfect location to host this year’s Americas Event.”

“Bringing together North, South, Central America and the Caribbean will make for a thrilling ceremony and there will no doubt be a real competitive edge in the air that should make for some interesting results,” he added.