Fresh from the success of the Tour de France Grand Départ last month, and the two stages of the event that were hosted in the county, Yorkshire fended off 13 rival nominations, including London, Berlin, St Petersburg, Paris and Venice.
Last year, organisers at the World Travel Awards said they received more than 500,000 votes cast by travel professionals, as well as “high-end tourism consumers”.
The awards were set up in 1993, with the top European destination category starting in 1996. This year, there were 88 different categories under the European banner, in an exhaustive list ranging from Europe’s leading destination to the best airline lounge, spa resort and leading “serviced apartment brand”. Welcome to Yorkshire, the region's tourism board, also won the leading marketing campaign category.
The Europe’s leading destination award was once dominated by London, which won it six years in a row after the inception of the awards. Other past winners include Lisbon, Istanbul, Greece and Edinburgh.
Geneva won this year's best city break destination, while the Acropolis in Athens was voted leading tourist attraction.
The full list of this year's awards can be seen at the World Travel Awards website.
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Telegraph Travel Awards 2014: vote for your favourite destinations and travel companies for the chance to win one of 40 luxury breaks worth a total of £800,000.
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