Lisbon Takes Europe's Leading City and Cruise Destination Titles at the World Travel Awards, as Portugal Is Named Europe's Leading Destination
At the World Travel Awards Europe gala in Montenegro on 17 October, Lisbon won two titles, and Portugal and Turismo de Portugal took the top destination and tourist board awards. What the awards are, and the tourism pressure behind them.
Lisbon was named Europe's Leading City Destination and Europe's Leading Cruise Destination at the European gala of the World Travel Awards, held on Saturday 17 October in Kotor, Montenegro. At the same ceremony Portugal was named Europe's Leading Destination, according to Turismo de Portugal, which itself took Europe's Leading Tourist Board.
For people who live here, the titles change nothing in law or in daily life. They matter mainly as marketing: the tourism bodies will use them abroad, and they arrive while Lisbon is debating how many visitors it can absorb.
What was won, and how the awards work
The Associação Turismo de Lisboa announced the two Lisbon awards. Its director-general, António Valle, said in a statement quoted by Lusa that the titles show Lisbon is "a unique and authentic destination" and that they recognise collective work to improve what the city offers. Turismo de Portugal says its own award recognises its work promoting the country abroad.
The World Travel Awards were founded in 1993. They are an industry awards programme, not an official or statistical ranking. Turismo de Portugal says the nominees and winners are chosen by the votes of thousands of industry professionals and travellers worldwide.
Earlier in the week Lisbon was also named Europe's Best Cruise Destination at the separate World Cruise Awards, held in Jamaica. The Port of Lisbon (APL) says this is the city's third win in that category, after 2021 and 2024.
The pressure behind the prizes
Cruise traffic is growing. The port authority's own figures show 86,322 cruise passengers in August 2026, 23 percent more than a year earlier and a record for the month, from 33 ship calls. Between January and August the port handled 448,037 passengers on 220 calls, which is 2 percent more passengers and 6 percent more calls than in the same months of 2025.
The hotel picture is less rosy. INE data for August showed Greater Lisbon was the one region where hotel revenue fell. With the airport close to full, the national tourism confederation has urged the country to chase spending rather than visitor numbers.
Councils are also asking visitors to pay more. Since 1 September 2024 Lisbon has charged a tourist tax of 4 euros per person per night, capped at seven nights. Funchal has proposed doubling its tax to 4 euros, including for cruise passengers, and Porto's mayor has named 4 euros a night as his target. And the 18 councils of the Lisbon metropolitan area have approved separate Navegante tickets for visitors.
What comes next
Turismo de Portugal and the Lisbon tourism association will now use the titles in their promotion abroad. Whether Lisbon gets the visitors who spend more, rather than simply more visitors, is the question the confederation and the councils raising tourist taxes are already asking.
The organisers publish the full list of 2026 Europe winners, including the hotel, resort and airline categories, on the World Travel Awards website. If you are planning a stay or booking a hotel because of an award, remember that these titles reflect votes, not inspections.
