Cozumel was presented with two prestigious international travel awards at a gala ceremony in Ecuador, on Saturday night.

Both the Leading Island Destination and Leading Cruise Port prizes for the Mexico and Central America region were presented to the island, at the glitzy annual World Travel Awards event.

It was the second year in a row that Cozumel won the Leading Island Destination title, fighting off stiff competition this time from Holbox and Isla Mujeres in Mexico, as well as Ambergris Caye in Belize, Coiba Island in Panama, Little Corn Island in Nicaragua and Roatán in Honduras.

Other nominees for the Leading Cruise Port prize were Costa Maya Cruise Port, the Port of Mazatlan and the Port of Progreso in Mexico, and Panama Port in Panama.

The World Travel Awards were established by their London-based organizers in 1993 to acknowledge, reward and celebrate excellence across all key sectors of the travel, tourism and hospitality industries. This year marks their 25th anniversary.

The winners are decided by votes from qualified executives working within travel and tourism around the world. Hundreds of the leading figures of South and Central America's travel and tourism industries attended the red-carpet ceremony, which was staged at Guayaquil’s historic Palacio de Cristal.