The results of the 2007 Business
Traveller Awards were revealed recently at a star-studded ceremony at the
London Hilton Park Lane. Presented by this year's guest of honour, journalist
and former BBC news correspondent Kate Adie OBE, the awards are recognised
throughout the industry as the premier accolades for business travel, and span
46 categories from hotels and airlines to car rental and luggage
brands.
For the first time African airlines and hotels were
recognised at the awards, with South African Airways winning Best African
Airline, and InterContinental walking away with Best Business Hotel Chain in
Africa. There was also a new category for smaller hotel chains, with boutique
brand Malmaison coming out on top, and sister chain Hotel du Vin in second
place. Serviced apartments - a rapidly growing sector in the business travel
industry – were also represented for the first time, with Ascott taking top
honours.
British Airways once again won Best Airline, although the carrier's haul of awards was down from six accolades to four, the others being Best Short Haul Carrier, Best Frequent Flyer Programme, and Best Economy Class. Virgin Atlantic won the Best Business Class and Best Premium Economy categories, in a repeat of last year's results, while Singapore Airlines bagged four awards, for Best First Class, Best Long Haul Airline, Best Asian Airline, and Best Cabin Staff.
In the hotel categories Starwood's Sheraton brand was voted the Best Business Hotel Chain Worldwide, while rivals Hilton took the top spots in the Best Business Hotel Chain in the UK and Europe awards. In the individual categories Shangri-La, Singapore won both Best Business Hotel in Asia Pacific and Best Business Hotel Worldwide, while the Jumeirah Emirates Towers, Dubai walked away with the award for the Best Business Hotel in the Middle East, and the Hilton London Heathrow Airport scooped the Best Airport Hotel award.
There was less good news for Heathrow airport itself though, as it dropped out of the top five in the Best Airport in the World category – the London Hub will have to hope that the forthcoming T5 will raise passenger satisfaction after what has been a difficult year for Heathrow. There was no doubting the winner of this award though, with Singapore's Changi Airport taking the honours for an impressive 20th year in a row.
Avis once again came out on top in the Best Car Rental Company in Europe and Worldwide categories, while Hertz took the top spot in North America. Virgin Trains was once again voted Best UK Domestic Train Service, and Samsonite bagged the award for Favourite Luggage Brand.
The Business Traveller Awards 2007 were presented in association with Eurostar, with additional sponsorship from Radius and Tumi. The awards are the result of a reader survey compiled between April and June 2007, and were carried out by an independent market research company.
See below for a full rundown of this year's awards, and for further coverage of the event check out the forthcoming October issue of Business Traveller.
Business Traveller Awards 2007
Carriers
Best
Airline
1 British Airways
2 Virgin Atlantic
3 Qatar Airways
4 Singapore Airlines
5 Swiss
Best Short Haul Carrier
1 British Airways
2 Swiss
3 bmi
4 Eurostar
Best Long Haul Airline
1 Singapore Airlines
2 British Airways
3 Qatar Airways
4 Virgin Atlantic
Best Frequent Flyer
Programme
1 British Airways Executive Club
2 Lufthansa Miles & More
3 Air France/KLM Flying
Blue
4 bmi Diamond Club
Best First Class
1 Singapore Airlines
2 British Airways
3 Cathay Pacific
4 Emirates
Best Business
Class
1 Virgin Atlantic
2 British Airways
3 Air New Zealand/Singapore Airlines
4 Cathay Pacific
Best Premium
Economy
Class
1 Virgin Atlantic
2 British Airways
3 Air New Zealand
4 SAS
Best Economy Class
1 British Airways
2 Singapore Airlines
3 Virgin Atlantic
4 Emirates
Best North American
Airline
1 American Airlines
2 United Airlines
3 Continental Airlines
4 Delta
Best European Airline
1 LOT Polish Airlines
2 CSA Czech Airlines
3 Malev Hungarian Airlines
4 Wizzair
Best Asian
Airline
1 Singapore Airlines
2 Cathay Pacific
3 Thai Airways
4 Malaysian Airlines
Best Middle Eastern
Airline
1 Emirates
2 Qatar Airways
3 Etihad Airways
4 Gulf Air
Best African Airline
1 South African Airways
2 Kenya Airways
3 Comair
Best Airline
Alliance
1 Star Alliance
2 oneworld
3 SkyTeam
Best Low Cost Airline
1 easyJet
2 Ryanair
3 Air Berlin
4 Flybe
Best Cabin Staff
1 Singapore Airlines
2 Virgin Atlantic
3 Cathay Pacific
4 British Airways
Best UK Domestic
Train Service
1 Virgin Trains
2 GNER
3 Airport Express
4 Midland Mainline
Hotels
Best
Business Hotel Chain Worldwide
1 Sheraton
2 Hilton
3 InterContinental
4 Marriott
5 Four Seasons
Best Business Hotel Chain in
the UK
1 Hilton
2 Marriott
3 Holiday Inn
4 Sheraton
Best Business Hotel Chain in
Europe
1 Hilton
2 Sheraton
3 InterContinental
4 Marriott
Best Business Hotel Chain in North
America
1 Marriott
2 Hilton
3 Sheraton
4 Hyatt
Best Business Hotel Chain in the Middle
East
1 Jumeirah
2 InterContinental
3 Sheraton
4 Hilton
Best Business Hotel Chain in Asia Pacific
1 Shangri-La
2 Hyatt
3 Sheraton
4 Mandarin Oriental
Best Business Hotel Chain in
Africa
1 InterContinental
2 Sheraton
3 Hilton
4 Marriott
Best Budget Hotel Chain
1 Express by Holiday Inn
2 Holiday Inn
3 Ibis
4 Premier Travel Inn
Best Luxury Hotel Chain
1 Four Seasons
2 Shangri-La
3 Ritz -Carlton
4 Mandarin Oriental
Best
Smaller Hotel
Chain
1 Malmaison
2 Hotel du Vin
3 Jumeirah
4 Rocco Forte Collection
Best Hotel Loyalty Scheme
1 Starwood Preferred
Guest
2 Hilton HHonors
3 Priority Club
4 Marriott Rewards
Best Serviced Apartment
Company
1 Ascott
2 Bridge Street Worldwide
3 Frasers Hospitality
4 Citadines
Best Business Hotel
Worldwide
1 Shangri-La,
Singapore
2 Jumeirah Emirates
Towers, Dubai
3 Burj Al Arab, Dubai
4 Four Seasons Hotel, New York
Best New Business Hotel
1 Grosvenor House, Dubai
2 Four Seasons, Hong Kong
3 Mandarin Oriental, Hong
Kong
4 Park Hyatt, Zurich
Best Business Hotel in Western
Europe
1 Four Seasons George V, Paris
2 Hotel Arts, Barcelona
3 Hilton, Copenhagen
4 InterContinental Le Grand, Paris
Best Business Hotel
in Eastern Europe
1 Warsaw Marriott
2 Four Seasons Hotel,
Prague
3 Hilton, Prague
4 Four Seasons Hotel, Gresham Palace, Budapest
Best Business Hotel in North
America
1 Four Seasons Hotel, New York
2 Mandarin Oriental, New York
3 W Times Square, New York
4 InterContinental, The Barclay, New
York
Best
Business Hotel in the Middle East
1 Jumeirah Emirates Towers, Dubai
2 Burj Al Arab, Dubai
3 The Ritz -Carlton, Dubai
4 King David Jerusalem
Hotel
Best
Business Hotel in Asia Pacific
1 Shangri-La,
Singapore
2 The Peninsula, Hong Kong
3 Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong
4 The Peninsula,
Bangkok
Best Resort Hotel
1 The Jumeirah Beach Hotel, Dubai
2 Datai Langkawi, Malaysia
3 Madinat Jumeirah,
Dubai
4 Shangri-La Bar- Al Jissah Oman
Best Airport
Hotel
1 Hilton London
Heathrow Airport
2 Regal Airport Hotel, Hong Kong
3 Sofitel, London Gatwick
4 Sheraton Amsterdam Airport
Hotel
Best
Business Hotel in the UK
1 London Hilton Park Lane
2 InterContinental,
London
3 Four Seasons Hotel, London
4 Sheraton Park Tower, London
Airports
Best Airport in the World
1 Singapore Changi Airport
2 Hong Kong Chek Lap Kok
3 Dubai
4 Amsterdam Schiphol
Best Airport for Duty Free Shopping
1 Dubai
2 Singapore Changi
Airport
3 London Heathrow
4 Amsterdam Schiphol
Airport
Best Airport in Europe
1 Amsterdam Schiphol Airport
2 Zurich
3 Munich
4 Copenhagen
Car Rental
Best Car Rental Company
Worldwide
1 Avis
2 Hertz
3 Budget
4 Sixt
Best Car Rental Company in
Europe
1 Avis
2 Hertz
3 Europcar
4 Sixt
Best Car Rental Company in North
America
1 Hertz
2 Avis
3 Alamo
4 National
Luggage
Favourite Luggage
Brand
1 Samsonite
2 Tumi
3 Delsey
4 Antler
