KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 18 — Queenstown, New Zealand and Malaysia emerged the big winners at the World Travel Awards Asia and Australasia over the weekend, after being crowned the leading destinations in their respective regions.

Industry leaders gathered at the InterContinental Danang Sun Peninsula Resort in Vietnam to recognise the best in Asian travel over the weekend.

Award winners are voted upon by major players in travel and tourism including senior executives, travel buyers, tour operators, agents as well as the general public.

In the category of airlines, Chinese carrier Hainan took the coveted title of Asia's leading airline, while Air New Zealand trumped Qantas and Virgin Australia to take the same title for Australasia.

Malaysia was named Asia's leading destination over Macau, Singapore and Thailand, while the waterfront city and mountain scenery of Queenstown, New Zealand helped it nab the title of leading destination for Australasia.

The winners of the regional awards will go on to qualify for the World Travel Awards grand finale, which takes place December 2 in the Maldives.

Here are a few of the major winners:

Asia

Asia's leading beach destination: Philippines Leading boutique hotel: The Sarojin, Thailand Leading city break destination: Hong Kong Leading hotel brand: InterContinental Hotels & Resorts Leading luxury hotel: The Peninsula Hong Kong Leading hotel: The Oberoi Udaivilas, India Leading new resort: Studio City Macau Leading resort: Four Seasons Resort Bali at Sayan, Indonesia

Australasia

Leading hotel: The Hotel Windsor, Melbourne, Australia Leading resort: Pacific Resort Aitutaki, Cook Islands Leading romantic resort: The Remote Resort, Fiji Islands Leading boutique hotel: Gaia Retreat & Spa, Australia — AFP-Relaxnews