London, 19th March 2014

World Travel Awards (WTA), the “Oscars of the travel industry”, has unveiled plans to host its South & Central America Gala Ceremony in the historic city of Quito, Ecuador on August 9th 2014.

The who’s who of Latin American travel will attend the VIP ceremony to celebrate and acknowledge their achievements over the past twelve months.

The red-carpet evening is being held in partnership with the Quito Turismo, and will include a gala dinner and top entertainment, as well as the presentation of the most coveted awards in the industry. It will take place at Centro Cultural Itchimbía, a magnificent glass-and-iron building which forms the centrepiece of Quito’s Parque Itchimbia.

The WTA organisers highlight the significance of hosting the VIP ceremony in Quito.

Graham E. Cooke, President & Founder, WTA, explained: “We are delighted to host our first ceremony in Ecuador, a decision that reflects the crucial contribution that tourism makes to the national economy. The Ecuadorian tourism sector is enjoying solid growth as a result of the government programme to improve tourism-related infrastructure, most notably Quito’s new state-of-the-art airport.”

He added: “The selection of our hosts is fundamental to the success of our awards programme and Quito possesses all the ingredients to rise to the challenge of hosting our South & Central America Ceremony 2014 – a beautiful city bursting with ancient history, a thriving cultural scene and world-class gastronomy.”

Augusto Barrera, Mayor of Quito, said: “As Mayor of the City of Quito it is an honour to welcome World Travel Awards to the very first city to be declared a World Cultural Heritage Site by UNESCO over 35 years ago, not only for its incredible and priceless architecture, but also because it is home to a richly-evolving heritage.

“It is a privilege to bring this event to Ecuador for the first time.”

The ceremony will mark the third leg of WTA’s 2014 Grand Tour, a year-long global search for the world’s finest travel tourism and hospitality organisations, covering seven continents.