In La Paz, small boats arrived annually between May and September to hunt for pearls. But due to the primitive diving conditions — Indigenous divers dove nude with only a stick to pry open shells and fight off the occasional shark — there was little profit in this trade for most.

The elite of the travel industry assembled for the World Travel Awards (WTA) Latin America Ceremony in the administrative capital, La Paz, to find out who amongst them would be crowned best of the ...