Competing against the famous food nations of the world, Peru has surprised and delighted many by winning World’s Leading Culinary Destination in this year’s World Travel Awards.

The World Travel Awards, labelled the ‘Oscars of Tourism’ by the The Wall Street Journal, handed this year’s cuisine trophy to Peru, hailing it the world’s most delicious and gastronomic nation, during an awards ceremony held in New Delhi, India,

Peru continues to stand out internationally as an epicurean destination, with its food festivals attracting record visitor numbers, and Peruvian chefs showcasing their local cuisine around the world. The destination is increasingly recognised for its culinary tours, food safaris, world class cooking schools, and foodie fiestas including The Mistura Food Festival, which attracted more than 500,000 people in September 2012.

Mariella Soldi, Director of Country Brand for Promperú, received the award at the gala held at The Oberoi Gurgaon New Delhi, the Indian capital. "It is a great honour for our country to have won best culinary destination in this year’s World Travel Awards. The Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism and PromPeru have been working hard to put Peruvian cuisine on the world map, and to showcase our first-class chefs, unique products, local farming communities and culinary festivals worldwide. This award is true testament to the diverse culinary experiences Peru has to offer."Soldi said.

The annual World Travel Awards, with nineteen years of history, serves to recognise and celebrate excellence in all sectors of the tourism industry across the globe. The awards cover a wide range of mainstream and niche categories and nominees are selected by votes given from tourism industry professionals.

Peru was also recognised as World’s Leading Green Destination, with Machu Picchu. Both world recognitions came after having won the South America´s Leading Culinary Destination and South America’s Leading Green Destination in last September’s World Travel Regional Awards, where PromPerú also was recognised as South America’s Leading Tourist Board.