Malaysia named Asia's leading destination at travel awards for Asia and Australasia

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 recognize 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