The World Travel Awards are some of the travel industry’s most prestigious accolades, and the winners in the European categories have been crowned at the thirty-first edition of the ceremony in Berlin. Leaders in tourism, airline, hotel and hospitality sectors are all included in the programme, but it’s the destinations themselves that we’re most excited about.
And claiming the award for Europe’s next emerging destination, a title won by Batumi in Georgia for the last five years, it was Braga, a city not too far from the coast nestled in north-western Portugal.

Braga is characterised by its young student population and bustling nightlife, but also its historical buildings and sites – it’s one of Portugal’s oldest cities, after all. The city has even been dubbed ‘Portuguese Rome’ and there are plenty of dazzling religious landmarks to explore, such as the centuries-old Sanctuary of Sameiro.

Braga beat the likes of Ljubljana in Slovenia, Matera in Italy and Tartu in Estonia in the emerging destination category, but Portugal had a pretty big night overall. Madeira was named as the leading island destination, and the Azores won the leading adventure tourism destination.

The crown of leading destination went to Greece. To learn more about the awards, you can take a look at the full list of winners on the website here. www.worldtravelawards.com