‘Incredible’ India has been voted the world’s leading destination at this year’s World Travel Awards ceremony, held January 11 in Qatar.

India saw off competition from London, New York, Cape Town, Rio de Janeiro and Sydney to take the award, the most prestigious handed out at the event.

Etihad Airways was judged world’s leading airline, seeing off a host of competitors including KLM, British Aiways, Singapore Airlines, Qatar and Virgin Atlantic.

The Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai has been voted the best hotel in the Middle East for the eighth year in a row.

The plush property was one of a host of winners at this week’s World Travel Awards‘ Middle East ceremony, the first in a whistlestop World Travel Awards tour which will see further regional ceremonies in Antalya, Turkey; Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt; Bangkok, Thailand and Montego Bay, Jamaica before the year is out.

Also picking up prizes in the competition, billed as “the Oscars of travel,” were Emirates, Etihad and Qatar, the region’s leading airlines.

The World Travel Awards, an organization tasked with selecting some of the world’s best travel experiences, has launched a luxury magazine to share its knowledge.

The organization officially launched this week’s Best in Travel online and as an Android app March 24, focusing on “the world’s most glamorous travel experiences.”

Unlike competitors such as Conde Nast Traveler and Wanderlust, it won’t be available on newsstands — the publisher says it reflects a shift from print to web as a source of travel information — but that’s led to some compelling features.

London has been voted the “World’s Leading Destination” at this year’s World Travel Awards, which took place November 7.

It beat off fierce competition from New York, Cape Town and Sydney to take the award, which is seen as one of the most prestigious in the travel world.

The World’s Leading Hotel gong went to the Burj Al Arab in Dubai, despite rivalry from 26 other properties including the Armani Hotel in Dubai, the Hotel Ritz Paris and the Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi.