Qatar’s capital city Doha and Italy’s renowned Forte Village Resort emerged as major sports tourism category winners at the World Travel Awards Grand Final Gala Ceremony 2025, held in Bahrain.
For the third year in a row, Doha was crowned the World’s Leading Sports Tourism Destination, reaffirming Qatar’s position as a powerhouse for world-class events, state-of-the-art venues and year-round sports programming. From hosting the FIFA World Cup 2022 to becoming a hub for athletics, tennis, golf, and motorsport, Qatar has successfully leveraged sport as a cornerstone of its visitor strategy. The win highlights Doha’s continued investment in next-generation infrastructure and its commitment to positioning the Gulf state as the premier global home for major international competitions, training camps and sports-led tourism growth.
The other destinations nominated for the World’s Leading Sports Tourism Destination 2025 included: Abu Dhabi, UAE; Auckland, New Zealand; Beijing, China; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Chicago, USA; Las Vegas, USA; London, England; Los Angeles, USA; Melbourne, Australia; Miami, USA; New York City, USA; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; São Paulo, Brazil; Seoul, South Korea; Singapore; The Bahamas; Tokyo, Japan; Toronto, Canada; and Vancouver, Canada.
Meanwhile, Forte Village Resort in Sardinia, Italy, secured a double victory, being named both the World’s Leading Sports Academy 2025 and the World’s Leading Sports Resort 2025. Celebrated for its elite-level training programmes, exceptional coaching talent and Olympic-grade facilities, Forte Village has long been a benchmark for high-performance sports travel. Its academy attracts top athletes, families and sports enthusiasts seeking world-class coaching in football, tennis, rugby, cycling and more – combining luxury hospitality with a deep sporting ethos that few destinations can rival.
It’s the seventh year in a row that Forte Village Resort has been named the World’s Leading Sports Resort, and the 13th year in succession in the World’s Leading Sports Academy category.
The Bahrain event also recognised leading global destinations, with the Maldives named ‘World’s Leading Destination’, Athens crowned ‘World’s Leading City Break Destination’, and Chile taking ‘World’s Leading Adventure Tourism Destination’.
The ceremony marked the conclusion of WTA’s Grand Tour 2025, which spans six regional events across Africa, the Caribbean, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. Graham Cooke, founder of the World Travel Awards, praised the winners as “stellar examples of tourism excellence”, reaffirming that these accolades continue to raise global standards across the industry.
For sports tourism, Qatar and Forte Village’s victories signal another milestone year – one that reinforces sport’s accelerating role in shaping global travel demand and destination identity.
See the full list of winners at worldtravelawards.com
Image: Lusail Stadium hosted the 2022 Fifa World Cup final (Credit: Qatar Tourism)