ST. PETERSBURG, August 16. /TASS/. In September, the Russian city of St. Petersburg will host the World Travel Awards ceremony, a source in the citys Tourism Development Committee said, adding that St. Petersburg was among the nominees.

"We have been given the honor to host the World Travel Awards ceremony on September 30," the committee chairman Andrei Mushkarev told reporters. "More than 1,000 people representing the hospitality industry from all over the world will gather here. Hotel owners, owners of tourist companies - all the big figures from the tourism world will come, so we want to take advantage of the event to draw attention to St. Petersburgs investment capabilities as far as tourism industry, the construction of hotels and infrastructure facilities go," he added.

The World Travel Awards ceremony will be held in Russia for the first time.

At the 2015 World Travel Awards, St. Petersburg was named Europe's Leading Destination, leaving behind Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, Edinburgh, Istanbul, Lisbon, London, Paris, Porto, Rome, Florence and Venice. In 2016, the city received the title of the Worlds Leading Cultural City Destination. The two awards provided the city with the right to host the 2017 award ceremony.

The 2017 WTA nominees particularly include Amsterdam, Barcelona, London, Paris and Rome. St. Petersburg is nominated in three categories: Europe's Leading City Break Destination, Europe's Leading City Destination and Europe's Leading Cruise Destination.

In these three categories, nominees also include Athens, Barcelona, London, Paris, Cannes, Copenhagen and Oslo to name a few. Besides, the St. Petersburg Tourism Development Committee has been nominated in the Europe's Leading Cruise Destination category.

The World Travel Awards was established in 1993. Awards are given annually in various nominations, in accordance with decisions taken by an international jury of hospitality experts. The World Travel Awards has been called the Oscars of the tourism industry, as, according to the WTA, "the brand is recognized globally as the ultimate hallmark of industry excellence."

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Russia's St. Petersburg to host World Travel Awards in September - TASS