The real excitement in the 1999 Euromoney business travel poll lies in the battles being waged behind the number one spot. Although Hong Kong's Mandarin Oriental is still the world's favourite hotel, five of the top 20 hotels are part of the Shangri-La chain - an impressive comeback from the six-place tumble it took in 1998's best hotel group ranking. Inter-Continental maintains its position as best hotel chain for a second successive year and fares particularly well in European categories: it features among the top five in 13 different cities. That should please UK leisure and brewing company Bass which bought Inter-Continental in February 1998 for £1.8 billion ($2.9 billion). Following the purchase a spokesman for the company commented: "We look forward to building on Inter-Continental's existing strong base in Europe, the Middle East and Latin America. We also look forward to expanding the brand in Asia and in the United States of America." With favourable results for Inter-Continental in 1999, senior executive readers of Euromoneyare sure to greet that news with a smile.
In the airline categories, Singapore Airlines and Virgin Atlantic are vying for second place behind the ever popular British Airways. Virgin Atlantic tops the poll for its business-class facilities and Singapore Airlines jumps ahead in terms of overall quality of service.
Cathay Pacific proves a spoiler in this head-to-head competition, matching Virgin Atlantic's second place in the first-class service category.
Perhaps most noteworthy in the airline rankings is the strong showing by United Airlines with new entries in three categories and top billing in flights originating in Chicago. A spokesman for the company attributes its recent success to heavy investment in the airline - over $400 million has been spent on improving the carrier's on-board services.
United recently became the first US airline to provide a lie-flat bed for first-class customers. "The United First Suite," comments David Coltman, senior vice-president of marketing for United Airlines, "can serve as your bed, your favourite chair or your office." United's efforts appear to have paid off. It features among the top five for first-class service.
New York's JFK airport climbs up the rankings, replacing Amsterdam's Schiphol as the second best airport behind London Heathrow. According to a spokesperson from JFK, over $7.5 billion is being spent to make JFK "a world-class airport of the next millennium." In addition to the internet kiosks and computer lap-top connection capabilities being implemented in each terminal, there has been a concerted effort over the last year to improve customer services. The "red coats", the new unit designed to cater to business travellers have even been known to track down a Gucci purse in a taxi heading to Manhattan minutes before an executive was set to take off.
Research for this business travel poll was provided by over 50 executives' assistants, who were asked to name their bosses' favourite hotels and airlines around the world. Points were awarded on a sliding scale of 4:3:2. All respondents were entered in our prize draw for two nights for two at the Grand Bretagne in Athens.
Congratulations to winner Sarah Gwilliams of the European Bank for Reconstruction & Development.