MATATO Maldives Travel Awards 2015 celebrated at Coco Bodu Hithi

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Last night saw one of the biggest nights for the tourism industry in the Maldives. The MATATO Maldives Travel Awards 2015’s second edition was held at Coco Bodu Hithi. The event was attended by representatives of the nominees from the resorts and sponsors, senior officials, private companies and members of MATATO.

The event kicked off with a gala dinner, giving invitees, winners, and the sponsors a chance to mingle and socialise before the awards ceremony.

Speaking at the event last night, Abdulla Ghiyas, President of MATATO said that one of the reasons that MATATO (Maldives Association of Travel Agents and Tour Operators)  exists today is “to provide specialised consultations for our clients, to help each other in keeping up with the ever-changing technology and travel trends, and lastly to work collectively to share knowledge.”

He concluded his speech thanking the sponsors, event management team, the Ministry of Tourism, and all other affiliates and partners of the event who made the event such a success.

In between awards, guests were entertained by local musicians and dancers. The entire event was held on the beach of Coco Bodu Hithi, in a beautifully decorated white tent.

Last night’s event was a follow up of the earlier edition of this year’s event, which was held at the Dusit Thani in Dubai. This edition’s awards were given to the remaining categories, who weren’t awarded at the previous event. Amongst the winners were PER AQUUM’s Niyama – for Leading F&B Resort, Hotel Jen – for Leading Business Hotel, Anantara Resorts – for Wellness& Spa and Leading Beach Resort, Centara Grand Island Resort – for Leading Family Resort, and Soneva Fushi for Leading Luxury Resort.

Amanda Wilson, Cluster Director of Spa spoke about winning the award for best Wellness and Spa Resort: “We are proud to be among the Maldives leading spa destinations and we are dedicated to providing authentic wellness experiences that allow our guests to experience a flexible approach to health, wellbeing and healing elements, while on a luxury Anantara holiday and still having the freedom to relax and indulge.”

The awards list went on last night with  Blue Tribe by Constance Hotels winning the Best Dive School award, Park Hyatt Maldives Hadahaa for the Leading Designer Resort, Adaaran Select Hudhuranfushi for the Leading Surf Resort, and Per Aquum Huvafen Fushi winning the award for the Most Romantic Resort.

Kristina Evarte, Marketing and Communications Manager from PER AQUUM Niyama, who won the award  for Leading F&B Resort, said: “We have four outstanding restaurant options for our guests, which are unique, with a lot of options and varieties. So we’re very and excited to receive this award, and would like to thank everyone who supported us.”

Secretary General of MATATO Ahmed Munaz said that the event was a huge success, and it was a lot of effort and dedication of the entire team of MATATO, and complimented event managers Highrise for the success of the event.

General Manager of Highrise, Habeeba Hassan said that they had been prepping for the event since the beginning of this year, and they were very pleased with the outcome of the event.

MATATO announced that next year’s awards will be held in London, but no date has been fixed as of yet.

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