Last year's winners at Routes Asia 2025.
The Routes Asia 2026 Awards celebrate the destinations and airports driving air service growth across the region, recognizing standout route development partnerships and marketing initiatives.
The Destination Award spotlights the support and collaboration destinations provide to airline partners to help secure and grow services, while the Airline Award recognizes carrier-led partnership efforts.
Airports are honored across three passenger-volume bands—Under 5 Million, 5–20 Million and Over 20 Million—and an Overall Winner will be selected from this year’s category winners.
Finalists in the Airport and Destination categories have been assessed by a panel of airline judges, with the Airline category evaluated by an editorial panel. Winners will be announced at the Routes Asia Networking Evening on April 15 in Xi’an, China.
More News And Analysis From Routes Asia 2026
Destination Award
Australia’s Northern Territory
Australia’s Northern Territory worked with airline partner Qantas in 2025 to support aviation recovery and stimulate travel demand through the “She’s Alice” marketing campaign promoting Alice Springs and the Red Centre. The campaign was part of the broader “Love Letters to Alice” storytelling platform and was developed in response to negative media sentiment that had begun affecting visitation and airline bookings to the destination. Delivered through an integrated national media campaign across broadcast video-on-demand, YouTube, Qantas in-flight channels, editorial content and digital platforms, the campaign targeted domestic travel audiences and promoted the region’s tourism experiences. The campaign generated 717,095 guaranteed touchpoints and more than 3 million completed video views, while editorial and social media content delivered strong engagement across Qantas channels.
Da Nang Tourism Promotion Center, Vietnam
Da Nang Tourism Promotion Center strengthened the destination’s aviation and tourism strategy in 2025 following the integration of Da Nang and Quang Nam Province, expanding the region’s tourism offering to include heritage, cultural and nature destinations such as Hoi An, My Son Sanctuary and Cu Lao Cham Biosphere Reserve. The destination launched the “Return to Origins” campaign promoting cultural heritage, community tourism and authentic travel experiences, while also promoting sustainable and eco-friendly tourism development. The tourism authority worked closely with airlines, airports and tourism stakeholders to expand international connectivity through joint marketing campaigns and roadshows targeting markets including Northeast Asia, India, Australia and CIS countries.
Sanya Tourism Board, China
Sanya Tourism Board expanded international air connectivity and tourism growth in 2025 through route development partnerships, airline collaboration and global marketing initiatives. The destination supported the development of 43 international air routes connecting Sanya with 33 cities across 18 countries and regions, including new and expanded services linking Sanya with cities in Russia, South Korea, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Laos, Belarus and Mongolia, as well as fifth- and seventh-freedom routes connecting Europe and Asia. International tourism growth reached record levels in 2025, with inbound overnight visitors rising 41.4% year on year to more than 1.06 million and inbound tourism revenue increasing 66.7% to $934 million.
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