The Most Awarded Destinations Around the World

Image: Downtown Dubai. (photo via nicky39/iStock/Getty Images Plus) (nicky39 / iStock / Getty Images Plus)
Image: Downtown Dubai. (photo via nicky39/iStock/Getty Images Plus) (nicky39 / iStock / Getty Images Plus)
Patrick Clarke
by Patrick Clarke
Last updated: 12:30 AM ET, Thu January 30, 2020

The United States still has a lot of work to do when it comes to securing the title of the world's most award-winning country.

For now, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) ranks number one by a significant margin, according to new research by U.K.-based online travel agency loveholidays, which examined nearly 2,900 destination awards won over the last five years in six categories including travel, hospitality, destination, business, entertainment and conservation.

With an impressive 282 awards dating back to 2015, the UAE is by far the most awarded nation in the world. The U.S. ranks second with 188, followed by South Africa (113), the Maldives (105) and Mexico (93). Portugal (92), Jamaica (88), Thailand (87), China (84) and Australia (83) round out the top 10.

The UAE ranks best in four of the six award categories, including travel, hospitality, business and entertainment while the U.S. fares the best for destination awards and Kenya beats out all other countries in terms of conservation awards.

Domestically, Florida is the most award-winning U.S. state, receiving 48 awards over the last five years. Nevada and New York are tied for second with 39 each, which is almost twice as many as fourth-place California (20). Hawaii (11) wraps up the top five, followed by Georgia (4), Utah (4), Illinois (3), Washington (3) and Pennsylvania (2).

Loveholidays also looked at U.S. cities, where Las Vegas (39) narrowly edged out New York City (33), with Miami (25), Orlando (15) and Los Angeles (9) rounding out the top five most-awarded cities since 2015.


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Patrick Clarke

Patrick Clarke

Senior Editor

A Maryland native and wanderer who has lived across the U.S. from North Carolina to SoCal, Patrick Clarke graduated from Towson University with a B.S. in journalism. He previously worked for Bleacher

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