There are only a few days left before the grand opening of the World Travel Awards (WTA) that celebrates its 21st anniversary this year, and its host Divani Apollon Palace & Thalasso, in Athens, is making final preparations for the red-carpet evening this Saturday, August 2. Senior representatives from Europe's biggest travel brands are scheduled to attend WTA's Europe Gala Ceremony 2014 on Saturday as they vie to win the most coveted accolade in the industry.

The event includes a gala dinner, top entertainment as well as the presentation of the most prestigious awards in the industry. It is the first time the World Travel Awards visit Greece.

Commenting ahead of the Gala Ceremony, WTA President Graham Cooke said: “Greece has shown remarkable resilience over the past five years, recovering swiftly from the economy turmoil which swept the country to reclaim its rightful place at the forefront of European tourism”. 

The Europe Gala Ceremony, held in partnership with the Greek Tourism Ministry, the Greek National Tourism Organisation, the Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises and Divani Collection Hotels, is marking the second leg of WTA's Grand Tour, a global search for the world's finest travel brands. After visiting Dubai earlier this year, the tour’s following stops include Abuja (Nigeria), Quito (Ecuador), New Delhi (India), and the Caribbean island of Anguilla, before arriving in Marrakech, Morocco, for the Grand Final in November.