Hotel Xcaret Mexico Is a Good Housekeeping 2024 Family Travel Awards Winner

Grupo Posadas is Mexico’s largest homegrown hotel operator, but U.S. analysts rarely discuss it.

Tucked at the bottom end of the Riviera Maya, Tulum is Mexico’s “it” tropical vacation destination at the present time.

November is a great month — and a hard month. It's a mix of cold air and elections, hearty meals with family, airport chaos and, if you're like me, lots of time spent scouring the internet for incredible travel deals in the days after Thanksgiving.

Tonight marks a momentous occasion for the global travel industry as the Grand Final of the World Travel Awards (WTA) unfolds in the vibrant city of Dubai. After months of excitement and anticipation, industry leaders, professionals, and enthusiasts from around the world are gearing up for an unforgettable night that will unveil the crème de la crème of the travel and hospitality sector.

A diverse crop of new ships will set sail in 2024, including intimate yacht-style vessels to never-before-seen mega ships from luxury players like Silversea and Cunard. There will be plenty of bells and whistles expected of these brands, including restaurants from top chefs, but also a few features new to the industry (think glass domes on the hull). Some are sister ships to those already on the waters, but with enough points of difference to feel like something entirely new—including the soon-to-be-sailing largest ship in the world, from Royal Caribbean, of course.

Cyber Monday and Travel Tuesday may be over, but Delta Air Lines is still rolling out the deals for travelers eager to get away.  The airline recently published a list of “Fly Into A Winter Wonderland” deals on their website, which offers discounts both in cash and using Delta SkyMiles redemptions for flights both within the United States and internationally.  “Redefine the winter blues and take advantage of low seasonal fares to destinations from cozy cities to tropical escapes and alpine adventures,” Delta shares on their website about the sale. Travel + Leisure spotted deals from nearly every one of Delta’s hub cities in the United States. The current promotion offers deals between December 2023 and January 2024. The lowest miles fare was 14,000 miles and $12 for a round-trip flight from Seattle, WA, to San Francisco, CA.  Some of the other top flight deals include:

While tequila has cemented itself as an all-time top seller in the global spirits industry, its close relative mezcal has enjoyed skyrocketing popularity across the globe since the dawn of the 21st century—and for any hardcore agave aficionados hoping to learn more about the history of tequila, it’s best to pay a visit to where it all began. Roughly 400 years ago, the first large-scale agave distillery made its debut in the town of Tequila, and in the modern era, this vibrant community comes complete with luxurious hotels, a stellar food scene and—of course—more delicious distillate than you could possibly dream of.

In November, 2023, Time Out magazine named Mexico City as the #1 city in the world for culture. In the 1990s and early 2000s Mexico City, was known for smog, sprawl, and street crime, and was not usually near the top of the list of cities most international tourists wanted to visit. But, over the last ten to fifteen years, local government officials and private sector entrepreneurs have worked to spark a new wave of urban renewal and transformed the way Mexico City is seen around the world. In 2016, The New York Times listed Mexico City as its number one recommended destination to visit. While urban planners, architects, and police have all played big roles in Mexico City’s evolution, a new group of globally renowned chefs has also helped catalyze Mexico City’s transformation, and also helped boost Mexico’s soft power by elevating Mexico’s gastronomy to be more universally regarded as one of the most complex and tasty cuisines on the planet.

Wait times for first-time visitor visas in Colombia, Mexico and India stretching to hundreds of days will continue to be a headache for the U.S. travel industry. 

The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards, “the funniest and most popular photography competition in the world,” according to the award organizers, “has reached its conclusion and is proud to announce the overall and category winners” for this year.

The ancient Maya thrived for some 3,000 years and created a monumental legacy that still inspires pop culture, from animated series to video games. Their stepped stone pyramids and glyph carved temple walls can be found in Guatemala, Belize, and Mexico, home to the well known sites of Tulum, Chichén Itzá, and the Uxmal pyramids.

World Travel Awards is delighted to announce that it will host its Grand Final 2023 – the climax of its 30th anniversary of rewarding travel excellence – at Dubai’s iconic Burj Al Arab.