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.

North Korea said Friday it would encourage international investment in a mountain resort, weeks after threatening to scrap its exclusive deal with the South Korean firm that helped fund the project.

The special zone for international tours will be set up around Mount Kumgang under a decree issued by parliament Friday, the North’s official news agency said.

The resort on the east coast was largely developed by the South’s Hyundai Asan and was the two countries’ first joint project, designed to foster reconciliation.

Marriott has won two major awards at the Frequent Traveler Awards, held April 28 in New York.

The chain’s Marriott Rewards scheme picked up the award for Hotel Program of the Year in both the Americas and Europe and Africa, although Priority Club by rival chain InterContinental took the Program of the Year in Middle East and Asia/Oceania.

Air Canada’s Aeroplan, Lufthansa’s Miles & More and Emirates’ Skywards were the big winners in the airline Program of the Year category, taking the Americas, Europe and Africa and Middle East and Asia/Oceania respectively.

As guests on board cruise lines around the world prepare to toast the royal wedding April 29, Carnival Cruise lines has bucked the trend by announcing that it will be toasting its new ship, the Carnival Magic.

Guests on board all 100 of Carnival’s ships — some 227,000 in total — will be offered a complimentary champagne toast at dinner April 29, to recognize the delivery of the 3,690-passenger Carnival Magic.

Fiercely royal Cunard (itself Carnival-owned), for its part, released photos April 27 of its flagship Queen Mary 2 being loaded with Veuve Clicquot champagne and commemorative wedding cakes ahead of its “Royal Wedding Celebrations at Sea.”

In a bid to stand out among the host of deals marking Prince William’s wedding, London’s luxury hotels are offering guests the chance to live like a royal for a night.

A red carpet and champagne reception awaits customers buying the “royal opulence” package at the Hyatt Regency London, which includes four nights in the royal suite, measuring 368 square metres (3,960 square feet).

For £36,000, the clients are promised a glimpse of “the ultimate royal lifestyle”; a chance to relax in marble bathrooms, a fully equipped gym and a baby grand piano.

If you’re beginning to think about booking a summer sun getaway in Europe, Cyprus offers some of the best beach destinations, according to TripAdvisor users.

The island nabbed two of the top three beach destinations in Europe, with Ayia Napa, the party capital which made its name as a notorious party paradise, in top place.

Protaras, another Cypriote tourist resort, took third place, just below the Greek island of Skiathos, a small island famous for its white sand beaches.