Hotelier Maldives has opened nominations for the Hotelier Maldives Awards 2026, presented by Bestbuy Maldives (BBM), inviting resorts across the Maldives to submit entries during a one-month nomination period starting 2 January 2026 through an online nominations portal. Building on the momentum of the programme since its launch in 2024 as the country’s first dedicated awards platform for hospitality professionals, the 2026 edition introduces eight new team-based categories that place stronger focus on departmental performance and the collaborative systems that define modern resort operations. The expansion reflects how Maldivian resorts deliver world-class experiences through integrated teams working across guest-facing and back-of-house functions, from revenue generation and service delivery to workforce development, technical reliability, financial stewardship and specialist support services that keep island properties running seamlessly.
The Hotelier Maldives Awards have quickly become a prominent fixture on the industry calendar by recognising the people behind the destination’s reputation for service excellence, celebrating both front-line professionals and the teams whose work often happens behind the scenes. The most recent Hotelier Maldives Awards 2025, held at Barceló Nasandhura Malé, underscored the growing scale and reach of the programme, attracting more than 450 nominations and recording over 600,000 public votes for shortlisted candidates. Winners were determined through a combined scoring method that balanced expert evaluation and public participation, with an expert judging panel contributing 60 per cent of the score and public voting accounting for 40 per cent. The 2025 awards were presented across 23 individual categories and four team, programme and special categories, reflecting the breadth of roles that shape resort performance, including general management, front office, culinary, wellness, sustainability and corporate social responsibility.
A dedicated recognition segment has also become an important part of the programme, honouring long-serving hospitality professionals whose careers have helped shape Maldivian tourism over decades. At the 2025 ceremony, the Hotelier Maldives Awards for Dedicated Service were presented to Mohamed Hashim of Holiday Inn Resort Kandooma Maldives, Mohamed Fuad of Bandos Maldives, Hussain Manikfaan of Coco Bodu Hithi, and Ali Rasheed Adam of Villa Resorts, continuing a tradition established at the inaugural 2024 awards that celebrated sustained contribution and lifetime service to the industry. The dedicated service recognition reinforces a message valued by resorts worldwide: that long-term commitment, professionalism and institutional knowledge remain essential to delivering consistent guest experiences and mentoring the next generation of hospitality talent.
For 2026, the programme will continue to honour outstanding individual hoteliers while expanding its team awards to better reflect the realities of resort management, where performance is increasingly measured through cross-functional coordination and departmental delivery. The eight new team categories include Sales & Marketing Team of the Year, recognising coordinated efforts that drive revenue growth, support occupancy and position both resort and destination through strong sales, marketing and distribution strategies; Rooms Division Team of the Year, recognising the combined front office and housekeeping operations that sustain guest engagement and consistently high standards of presentation and service; HR & Training Team of the Year, recognising excellence in recruitment, learning and development, staff engagement and workforce planning that supports retention and organisational stability; Engineering Team of the Year, highlighting preventative maintenance, utilities management, technical efficiency and operational sustainability that keep island resorts reliably functioning; Finance Team of the Year, recognising accuracy and strategic oversight across budgeting, forecasting, compliance, auditing and procurement; F&B & Culinary Team of the Year, recognising integrated dining operations that deliver consistency, service quality and innovation across outlets and concepts; Wellness Team of the Year, recognising structured, results-focused spa and wellness programmes supported by effective guest and facility management; and Support Team of the Year, recognising specialist operational functions such as recreation, IT, security, marine and logistics, which are critical to smooth day-to-day resort performance.
These team awards complement the established portfolio of individual recognitions featured in 2025, including Young Hotelier of the Year, Chef of the Year, F&B Personality of the Year, Finance Personality of the Year, PR and Communications Personality of the Year, alongside a wide range of operational and leadership categories. Together, the combined individual and team categories are designed to present a comprehensive view of excellence across every layer of resort operations, reflecting the Maldives’ diverse resort ecosystem where properties differentiate themselves through personalised service, distinctive concepts, sustainability initiatives and refined standards across all departments.
Resorts are invited to submit nominations for eligible teams working at properties in the Maldives during the qualifying period, with the flexibility to nominate multiple teams across different categories provided they meet the published criteria. Nominations must be submitted within the one-month window starting 2 January 2026 through the official awards nominations portal, where full guidelines and category descriptions will be available. All nominations must also include an official nomination letter endorsed by the resort’s General Manager or Human Resources department, confirming eligibility and organisational support for the nominee or nominated team. This requirement reinforces the professional and structured nature of the process, while ensuring that nominated teams represent verified excellence within their respective resorts.
As in previous editions, winners of the Hotelier Maldives Awards 2026 will be selected through a combination of expert judging and public voting, maintaining the transparent, participatory approach that has helped the programme gain broad industry and community engagement. The awards ceremony, with details to be announced in due course, is expected to bring together resort leaders, department heads and team members from across the archipelago to celebrate achievements, share best practices and further elevate professional standards. Additional information on eligibility, judging and categories, as well as the online nomination form, will be available via Hotelier Maldives’ awards page, and resorts seeking clarification may contact the Hotelier Maldives editorial team at [email protected]
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