Tourism excellence celebrated at Portugal Travel Awards

Winners of the 21st “Portugal Travel Awards by Publituris” were announced last Friday evening at the Hilton Vilamoura Resort & Spa in the Algarve, recognising businesses and destinations across Portugal’s tourism sector.

More than 350 representatives from the tourism industry attended the ceremony, including Secretary of State for Tourism, Trade and Services Pedro Machado, Loulé mayor Telmo Pinto, APAVT president Pedro Costa Ferreira, AHRESP secretary-general Ana Jacinto and AHETA president Hélder Martins.

The annual awards recognise excellence across Portugal’s travel and tourism industry, with categories covering airlines, hotels, resorts, attractions, destinations and tourism services.

One of the evening’s most prestigious honours, the Belmiro Santos Award, was presented to Isolete Correia, CEO of Vilamoura World, in recognition of her more than 50-year career at Vilamoura Marina and her contribution to developing one of Europe’s best-known nautical tourism destinations.

The Algarve featured prominently among this year’s winners, with several regional businesses and attractions receiving top honours.

Viceroy at Ombria Algarve was named Best Five-Star Hotel, while Verdelago Resort won Best Hotel Resort. Palácio de Tavira received the award for Best Boutique Hotel, Vilalara Grand Hotel was recognised as Best Beach Hotel, The Els Club Vilamoura was named Best Golf Course, Zoomarine won Best Theme Park and Marina de Vilamoura was awarded Best Marina.

Elsewhere, TAP Air Portugal retained the title of Best Airline, while easyJet was recognised as Best Low-Cost Airline. Pestana Hotel Group was named Best Hotel Chain, and Agência Abreu and Abreu won the awards for Best Travel Agency Network and Best Tour Operator, respectively.

The Porto and North region was named Portugal’s Best National Tourism Region, while Morocco received the award for Best International Destination.

Portugal Travel Awards by Publituris 2026 winners

Best Airline: TAP Air Portugal

Best Low-Cost Airline: easyJet

Best Car Rental Company: Europcar

Best Tour Operator: Abreu

Best Travel Agency Network: Agência Abreu

Best Cruise Line: MSC Cruzeiros

Best Hotel Chain: Pestana Hotel Group

Best Five-Star Hotel: Viceroy at Ombria Algarve

Best Four-Star Hotel: PortoBay Blue Ocean

Best Hotel Resort: Verdelago Resort

Best Boutique Hotel: Palácio de Tavira

Best City Hotel: Tivoli Avenida

Best MICE Hotel: Montebelo Viseu Congress Hotel

Best Beach Hotel: Vilalara Grand Hotel

Best Rural Tourism Property: Casas do Côro

Best Wine Tourism Experience: Herdade da Malhadinha Nova

Best Golf Course: The Els Club Vilamoura

Best Theme Park: Zoomarine

Best Tourism Activities Company: Picos de Aventura

Best Marina: Marina de Vilamoura

Best International Destination: Morocco

Best National Tourism Region: Porto and North

The Portugal Travel Awards by Publituris are among the Portuguese tourism sector’s longest-running industry accolades, celebrating businesses and organisations that have distinguished themselves over the past year.

Inês Lopes

Newspaper editor at The Portugal Resident