Business Traveller Middle East Awards 2023: Here are all the winners

The 22^nd edition of the annual Business Traveller Middle East Awards was held at the Palazzo Versace Dubai on Monday night.

The gala ceremony had over 250 guests in attendance, including industry leaders and C-Suite executives. The winners of 40 award categories spanning three main divisions including airlines, airports and hotels were announced.

In the airlines’ category, Emirates was recognised with four prestigious awards, including ‘Best Airline Worldwide’, ‘Airline with the Best Premium Economy Class’, ‘Airline with the Best First Class’, and ‘Best Airport Lounge in the Middle East’ for its Emirates First Class Lounge, Dubai International Airport. UAE’s Etihad Airways also earned three accolades – ‘Airline with the Best Cabin Crew’, ‘Airline with the Best Economy Class’ and ‘Airline with the Best Frequent Flyer Programme’. Also, flydubai bagged the ‘Best Low-Cost Airline Serving the Middle East’, whereas Qatar Airways took home two awards – ‘Airline with the Best Business Class’ and ‘Best Regional Airline Serving the Middle East’.

Within the airports category, the Dubai International Airport won two awards including ‘Best Airport in the Middle East’ and ‘Best Airport Worldwide’.

As for the hotels category, Raffles Doha took home the award for the ‘Best New Business Hotel in the Middle East’ and Hilton Abu Dhabi Yas Island received the ‘Overall Best Business Hotel in the Middle East’. For 13 of the hotel category awards which recognised individual hotels, there was also a Highly Commended winner in each of them which was the property that secured the second-highest number of votes in that category.

At a broader brand level, Jumeirah Hotels & Resorts won the Best Luxury Hotel Brand in the Middle East, while InterContinental Hotels & Resorts took home the accolade for Best Hotel Brand in the Middle East and Accor’s Fairmont brand won the honour of the ‘Best Hotel Brand Worldwide’.

There were three special awards within the hotels category and these included ‘Overall Best Business Hotel in the Middle East’ (based on the hotel that got the highest number of votes during the voting process) which went to Hilton Abu Dhabi Yas Island and two Editor Choice Awards too. The first was for the Most Iconic Property in the Middle East which was won by the Four Seasons Hotel Riyadh at Kingdom Centre, and the award for Best Leisure Hotel which was secured by Sofitel Dubai Downtown.

The Guest of Honour for the awards, Jerry Inzerillo, group CEO of Diriyah Company, was unable to travel from Saudi Arabia to Dubai due to an unforeseen high-level business meeting in the kingdom, but did send a specially pre-recorded video message for all the guests gathered at the awards.

For the second consecutive occasion, Business Traveller Middle East also bestowed a Lifetime Achievement Award. This year’s award was presented to Olivier Louis, Managing Director of One&Only Royal Mirage and One&Only The Palm in recognition of his influential role in the development of the hospitality sector in the region over the last over 25 years.

“Our annual awards champion the message of resilience, perseverance and aspiration,” said Ian Fairservice, managing partner and group editor-in-chief of Motivate Media Group. “We opened the nominations process to the public, and also had a public round of voting to ensure the authenticity, fairness and impartiality of the awards. My warmest congratulations to each of the winners.”

The sponsors for the event included Diriyah Company, Delsey Paris, Neutral Fuels, as well as venue partner Palazzo Versace Dubai and Palazzo Hospitality, and vote processing partner Jacobsons Direct Marketing.

The full list of winners are below. Stay tuned for the May edition of Business Traveller Middle East which will have the complete awards coverage.

The Business Traveller Middle East Awards 2023 winners:

Lifetime Achievement Award: Olivier Louis, Managing Director of One&Only Royal Mirage and One&Only The Palm

Airlines:

Airline with the Best Cabin Crew: Etihad Airways

Airline with the Best Economy Class: Etihad Airways

Airline with the Best Premium Economy Class: Emirates

Airline with the Best Business Class: Qatar Airways

Airline with the Best First Class: Emirates

Airline with the Best Frequent Flyer Programme: Etihad Guest

Best Regional Airline Serving the Middle East: Qatar Airways

Best Asian Airline Serving the Middle East: Singapore Airlines

Best European Airline Serving the Middle East: Turkish Airlines

Best Low-Cost Airline Serving the Middle East: flydubai

Best Airline worldwide: Emirates

Airports:

Best Airport Hotel in the Middle East: Grand Mercure Hotel and Residences Dubai Airport

Best Airport in the Middle East: Dubai International Airport

Best Duty Free Shopping in the Middle East: Dubai Duty Free

Best Airport Lounge in the Middle East: Emirates First Class Lounge, Dubai International Airport

Best Airport Worldwide: Dubai International Airport

Hotels :

Best New Business Hotel in the Middle East: Raffles Doha (Winner); Marriott Resort Palm Jumeirah, Dubai (Highly Commended)

Best Business Hotel in Dubai: Four Seasons Hotel Dubai International Financial Centre (Winner); Novotel World Trade Centre Dubai (Highly Commended)

Best Business Hotel in Abu Dhabi: Hilton Abu Dhabi Yas Island (Winner); Beach Rotana Abu Dhabi (Highly Commended)

Best Business Hotel in Sharjah and the Northern Emirates: Intercontinental Ras Al Khaimah Mina Al Arab Resort & Spa (Winner); Fujairah Rotana Resort & Spa (Highly Commended)

Best Business Hotel in Jordan: The Boulevard Arjaan by Rotana, Amman (Winner); Amman Marriott Hotel (Highly Commended)

Best Business Hotel in Lebanon: Radisson Blu Hotel, Beirut Verdun (Winner); Gefinor Rotana Beirut (Highly Commended)

Best Business Hotel in Egypt: InterContinental Citystars Cairo (Winner); Fairmont Nile City (Highly Commended)

Best Business Hotel in Qatar: Fairmont Doha (Winner); Alwadi Hotel Doha – MGallery (Highly Commended)

Best Business Hotel in Kuwait: Grand Hyatt Kuwait (Winner); Four Seasons Hotel Kuwait at Burj Alshaya (Highly Commended)

Best Business Hotel in Bahrain: Jumeirah Gulf of Bahrain Resort & Spa (Winner); Mövenpick Hotel Bahrain (Highly Commended)

Best Business Hotel in Oman: Al Bustan Palace, a Ritz-Carlton Hotel (Winner); Jumeirah Muscat Bay (Highly Commended)

Best Business Hotel in Riyadh: voco Riyadh (Winner); Radisson Hotel Riyadh Airport (Highly Commended)

Best Business Hotel in Jeddah: The Ritz-Carlton, Jeddah (Winner); Shangri-La Jeddah (Highly Commended)

Editor’s Choice: Most Iconic Property in the Middle East: Four Seasons Hotel Riyadh at Kingdom Centre

Editor’s Choice: Best Leisure Hotel: Sofitel Dubai Downtown

Overall Best Business Hotel in the Middle East: Hilton Abu Dhabi Yas Island

Best Serviced Apartment Brand in the Middle East:  Ascott

Best Hotel Loyalty Programme in the Middle East: Marriott Bonvoy

Best Budget Hotel Brand in the Middle East: Rove Hotels

Best Lifestyle Hotel Brand in the Middle East: Radisson

Best Luxury Hotel Brand in the Middle East: Jumeirah Hotels & Resorts

Best Hotel Brand in the Middle East: InterContinental Hotels & Resorts

Best Hotel Brand Worldwide: Fairmont

This article originally appeared on Business Traveller Middle East