Sydney Loses Out to India in Travel Awards

SYDNEY has been beaten by India to the title of the world's best tourism brand.

London, New York, Cape Town and Rio de Janeiro also missed out on the gong at the World Travel Awards, announced in Qatar.

Etihad Airways was voted the world's leading airline following a milestone year that saw the United Arab Emirates' flag carrier continue its journey as the fastest growing airline in history.

Abu Dhabi's new Jumeirah at Etihad Towers won the title for the world's leading new hotel in the awards, known as "the Oscars of the travel industry''.

It beat the Mandarin Oriental Paris, The Ritz Carlton Hong Kong, The Park Hyderabad, Hotel Missoni Edinburgh and W Hotel London.

With economic uncertainty and a series of natural disasters, World Travel Awards president and founder Graham Cooke said the past year had been challenging one for travel and tourism, but the winners had helped in the global recovery of the industry.

The 2011 nominations featured more than 5,000 companies in 1,000 categories across 162 countries.

The winners were selected by more than 210,000 industry professionals and consumers worldwide.

For the full list of winners go to www.worldtravelawards.com/winners