Maldives has beaten Seychelles and Polynesia to win the award for the Best Sea Destination at the Italia Travel Awards 2017.

Hala Hameed, the Permanent Representative of Maldives to the UN offices in Geneva and Ambassador of Maldives to Swiss Federal Council, received the award at the gala ceremony held Thursday at the elegant Roman Aquarium located in the heart of Italy’s capital Rome.

Maldives won the award for the Best Beach Destination last year, competing with Seychelles and Polynesia.

Considered to be the Oscars of the travel industry in Italy, the annual Italia Travel Awards celebrate the commitment and expertise shown by the Italian tourism sector. The awards aim to encourage and boost professionalism and quality of the tourism industry.

The Italian market, which is one of the major source markets for the Maldivian tourism Industry, has shown signs of recovery from 2015 onwards after four years of decline, with market share increasing from 4.8 percent in 2014 to 5.5 percent in 2016. In 2016, 71,202 tourist arrivals were recorded from Italy, which is an increase of 8.5 percent compared to 2015.