World Travel Awards: Cannes bids for a fifth world festival destination title
Translated from French. Cannes is nominated again for the title of World’s Leading Festival & Event Destination at the 2026 World Travel Awards, after four consecutive victories. Voting closes on 30 October, and the verdict will come on 12 December in Tanzania.
Translated from the French original. Lire en français
Can the run continue? Cannes is once again among the nominees for the title of World’s Leading Festival & Event Destination at the 2026 World Travel Awards. The official World Travel Awards voting page confirms the nomination of Cannes, France, in this category of the 33rd edition of the awards, and Riviera Radio, which reported the news on 15 October, notes that the city is on a run of four consecutive world victories, from 2022 to 2025.
The competition is global. Eight destinations are in the running, according to the official list published by the World Travel Awards: Barranquilla in Colombia, Buenos Aires in Argentina, Cannes, Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, Jamaica, Rio de Janeiro in Brazil and Zanzibar in Tanzania.
Four world crowns in a row, five European crowns in a row: the run traced by Riviera Radio extends, at European level, from 2021 to 2025 and, at world level, from 2022 to 2025. It is that consistency which the 30 October vote will put to the test, against seven rivals from four continents, from Barranquilla to Ho Chi Minh City. The verdict, meanwhile, will fall far from the Croisette: the Grand Final is scheduled in Tanzania on 12 December, and Zanzibar, one of Cannes’s rival destinations, will there be playing, so to speak, at home.
A full European trophy cabinet
According to Riviera Radio, Cannes won the equivalent European title five years in a row, from 2021 to 2025. The Riviera station stresses the central role of the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès in this events industry, supported by local hotels, restaurants and businesses. Among the gatherings behind the bid, it names the Film Festival, Cannes Lions, MIPIM, CANNESERIES, the International Games Festival and the Tax Free World Exhibition.
Voting is open on the official World Travel Awards website and will close on 30 October 2026, again according to Riviera Radio. The winners will be announced at the World Travel Awards Grand Final, scheduled in Tanzania on 12 December, when Cannes will learn whether the world run extends to a fifth year.
Now in their 33rd year, the World Travel Awards recognise excellence across the international travel, tourism and hospitality industries. For Cannes, the stakes go beyond the trophy: the title feeds the image of a city that lives from its festivals and congresses twelve months a year, far beyond the fortnight in May.
