Best Resort Awards: How Resorts Are Judged

Resort awards have become one of the clearest trust signals a leisure property can hold, and the best resort awards in 2027 share a common thread: judging that rewards genuine guest experience rather than marketing budget. For a general manager weighing whether to invest time and fees into entering, the real question isn't "will we win," it's "does this programme evaluate resorts fairly, against criteria that reflect what actually matters to guests." This guide walks through exactly how resort awards are judged, what categories exist, who can nominate, what it costs, and how to put together a nomination strong enough to compete.

Whether you operate an all-inclusive beach resort, a remote eco-lodge, or a family-owned mountain retreat, there is a resort award category built around your property type. Programmes under Hospitality Awards — led by the International Travel Awards — are structured so resorts are judged against comparable peers rather than lumped in with city-centre business hotels, which is exactly why the resort category exists as its own distinct track.

What Are Resort Awards, Exactly?

Resort awards are independent recognition programmes built specifically for leisure-focused, destination properties — beach resorts, mountain retreats, all-inclusive properties, eco-resorts and wellness resorts — evaluated by a panel of judges against a published set of criteria. The strongest resort award programmes share three traits: an independent jury with genuine hospitality expertise, transparent published judging criteria, and zero reliance on public voting. Any programme that determines its "winners" through an open online poll can be manipulated with bulk voting, and travellers, investors and industry peers increasingly recognise the difference between a merit-judged resort award and a pay-to-display badge.

Within the Hospitality Awards family, resort recognition sits primarily inside the International Travel Awards programme, alongside hotels, airlines, cruise lines and tourism boards — placing a resort award win inside a globally recognised, cross-industry context rather than a standalone niche credential.

Why Resort Awards Matter in 2027

Guests increasingly research third-party validation before booking a leisure stay, and independent resort awards have moved from a marketing extra to a measurable performance driver. Winning resorts consistently report three concrete benefits.

• Higher direct booking conversion. A resort award badge on the property's own site and OTA listing increases guest confidence exactly at the point of booking decision, reducing dependence on discounting to win the sale.
• Stronger media and PR reach. Winning resorts typically receive travel-press coverage, feature placements and social amplification well beyond what an in-house marketing team could otherwise generate.
• Team pride and retention. Resort staff, from housekeeping to recreation teams, take real pride in independently verified recognition — which reinforces the service consistency judges score most heavily.

For ownership groups, a track record of resort award wins also signals operational maturity that supports financing conversations, management contract renewals and resale valuations.

Resort Award Categories in 2027

Resort award categories are organised by destination type and guest experience, so nominated properties are judged against genuinely comparable peers rather than a single undifferentiated "best resort" list.

• Beach Resort of the Year — coastal and island leisure destinations
• Luxury Resort of the Year — five-star and ultra-luxury resort properties
• All-Inclusive Resort of the Year — full-board and all-inclusive leisure properties
• Wellness Resort of the Year — properties built around a spa or wellness programme
• Eco Resort of the Year — resorts leading on environmental and community responsibility
• Family Resort of the Year — properties designed for multi-generational travel
• Mountain & Adventure Resort of the Year — ski, hiking and outdoor-recreation destinations
• Resort Group of the Year — multi-property resort portfolios and management companies

Full category listings, including regional and country-level breakdowns, are available on our Award Categories page.

How Resort Award Judging Works

Credible resort awards score every nomination against fixed, published criteria rather than subjective impression alone. Across the Hospitality Awards family of programmes, six weighted criteria determine the final score:

Notice that "popularity" or "vote count" appears nowhere in that list — a useful test when assessing whether any resort award you're considering is worth your budget. For the full methodology, see our Judging Process page.

Who Can Nominate a Resort?

Both self-nominations and third-party nominations are accepted. In practice, nominations are typically submitted by one of the following:

1. The resort's general manager or director of sales & marketing
2. The ownership group or resort management company
3. A PR or marketing agency acting on the resort's behalf
4. Industry peers, travel writers or guests nominating a property they believe deserves recognition

There are no geographic restrictions — resorts from any of 150+ eligible countries can enter.

How to Nominate Your Resort: Step by Step

1. Choose your category. Review the Award Categories page and select the category that best fits your resort type.
2. Select your package. Compare nomination tiers on the Fee & Cost page — pricing depends on how many categories and programmes you want to enter.
3. Complete the nomination form. Submit your resort's details, photography and supporting information through the official nomination form.
4. Verification. The organising team confirms eligibility and validates submitted details.
5. Independent jury review. Judges score your entry against the published criteria above.
6. Results and gala. Winners are notified privately, then celebrated publicly at the annual black-tie gala in Dubai.

Ready to put your property forward? Head to the Award Nomination page to nominate today. If you're unsure how the process differs across property types, our guide on how to nominate a hotel for an award walks through the same steps in more depth.

The Beach Palace Ramsgate — South Africa

How Much Do Resort Awards Cost?

Nomination fees for resort awards in 2027 typically start around USD 299 for a single category on a single programme, scaling up to USD 1,750 for packages that allow participation across multiple programmes and categories in the same year. It bears repeating clearly: a higher-priced package never increases your odds of winning — it only broadens how many categories or programmes you can enter and the visibility benefits attached to participation. Winning itself is always decided purely on jury-scored merit. Full pricing, including optional Winner Package tiers for confirmed winners, is detailed on our Fee & Cost page.

How to Prepare a Winning Resort Nomination

Because judging is scored against fixed criteria rather than subjective preference, the strongest resort nominations make the judges' job easy — evidence-led, specific and well organised.

• Lead with evidence, not adjectives. Instead of describing your resort as "world-class," cite guest satisfaction scores, repeat-booking rates, or specific service initiatives judges can independently verify.
• Match your category precisely. An all-inclusive property entered in a luxury boutique category will be judged against the wrong benchmark. Choosing the right category materially improves your scoring.
• Provide recent, high-quality photography. Judges form an initial impression from submitted images of grounds, rooms and facilities — invest in current, professional photography rather than reusing outdated marketing assets.
• Address sustainability directly. This criterion is frequently under-addressed by resorts. Even modest, well-documented initiatives — reef protection, water conservation, local sourcing — score better than vague claims.
• Submit early. Categories can close ahead of the published deadline once capacity is reached, and early submission gives the verification team time to follow up on any missing information.

Common Mistakes When Entering Resort Awards

Most weak resort nominations fail for avoidable reasons rather than genuine shortfalls in the property itself. The most frequent mistakes include submitting generic, templated descriptions that could apply to any resort anywhere; leaving the sustainability and innovation sections blank or minimal; entering the wrong category to chase a "less competitive" shortlist; and assuming a higher-priced nomination package will improve the odds of winning. As covered above, package tier affects participation breadth and visibility only — it has no bearing on the jury's scoring. Resorts that treat the nomination form with the same care as a serious business proposal — clear, specific, evidenced — consistently outperform those that treat it as a formality. Understanding the full set of hotel award categories alongside resort-specific ones can also help you decide whether a crossover category fits your property better.

Resort Awards vs. Other Recognition Programmes

Not every "award" carries equal weight, and it's worth understanding the difference before investing budget and staff time. Public-vote listicles and pay-to-play directories that guarantee a badge in exchange for a fee are common in the resort space, but they carry little credibility with travellers or investors because there is no independent evaluation behind them. Genuine resort awards, by contrast, publish their judging criteria, disclose that a jury — not the public — decides outcomes, and are transparent that fees fund participation and administration rather than the result itself. When evaluating any resort award programme, ask three questions: Is the jury named and credentialed? Are the criteria published? Is there a public-vote component that could be gamed? Programmes under the Hospitality Awards umbrella answer "yes," "yes," and "no" respectively — and resorts weighing entry into a market like the UAE may find our guide to hotel awards Dubai a useful companion for regional context.

Featured Programme: International Travel Awards

Resorts nominated through Hospitality Awards are judged under the International Travel Awards — the flagship travel and hospitality programme organised by Golden Tree Events LLC, now in its 10th edition, spanning 150+ countries and 200+ categories. You can review the programme's full remit, or visit the official International Travel Awards website directly, before submitting your nomination.

Frequently Asked Questions