Virgin Holidays, the leading U.K. holiday company owned by Sir Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group, hosted a function at the Battersea Power Station in London on Sunday, November 6, 2011 to honor the top hotels worldwide. Couples Tower Isle Hotel & Resort was honored with the Gold Award, which is given to a hotel establishment providing an excellent Jamaican tourist destination.

Spain-based hospitality company Iberostar Hotels & Resorts this week unveiled Iberostar Cancun, the newest addition to the company’s portfolio of all-inclusive resorts in Mexico. The property marks part of the company’s expansion strategy and was previously the Hilton Cancun.

Melia Hotels International on Nov. 30 officially opened two new all-inclusive Paradisus resorts in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. Paradisus Playa del Carmen La Esmeralda and Paradisus Playa del Carmen La Perla both feature 12 restaurants and 10 bars.

Atlantis Resort, the hotel attraction that has been synonymous for over a decade with holidaying in The Bahamas, will no longer be the property of global resort company Kerzner International. Kerzner stated that it would transfer ownership of the property to Canadian property company Brookfield Asset Management to help ease its debt burden.

As the travel industry has helped to spur growth in the Haitian economy since the 2010 earthquake with companies like Amadeus helping to build an orphanage and Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines assisting with the creation of manufacturing facilities, Marriott International also is looking to get in on the ground floor of what could be a boom in Haitian business.

Barceló Hotels & Resorts is offering 35 percent off advance reservations at the company’s all-inclusive properties in Mexico, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic through April 2012. The offer allows vacationers to book their stays according to their personal schedules.