One gets cynical about travel awards because there are so many of the damn things. It the then travel editor of the Sydney Morning Herald could garner three awards — and he did and it was me — then it is pretty much open season.

However the inaugural TTG China Travel Awards have just been held and 39 best performing travel trade organizations operating within China were honored. There were 400 people at the event which means one award for every ten attendees which seems a fairly normal proportion.

This year’s awards covers 6 categories, with 39 awards in total. All readers of TTG China, TTG-BTmice China, TTG Asia and TTGmice were invited to vote for their favorite travel and tourism organizations. More then 12,600 TTG readers across the Asia Pacific participated in the voting exercise.
1. Best China Airline Overall — Air China
2. Best International Airline Serving China — Singapore Airlines
3. Best Business Class Airline in China — China Southern Airlines
4. Best Global Hotel Chain Operating in Greater China — InterContinental Hotels Group
5. Best Local Hotel Chain Operating in Greater China — Gloria International Hotels
6. Best Luxury Hotel Brand in Greater China — Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts
7. Best Mid-range Hotel Brand in Greater — China Novotel
8. Best Luxury Hotel in Beijing — Raffles Beijing Hotel China
9. Best Luxury Hotel in Shanghai — The Westin Bund Center Shanghai
10. Best Luxury Hotel in Guangdong — InterContinental Shenzhen

And it went on from there. If it gets down to awarding a prize for the best MICE city in China — it was Shanghai — it is time to draw a line. Our illustration shows the statue. Decorously fuzzed around the important parts.
Source: Travel Daily News

Super 8 China of the USA has been named as one of the ‘Best Employers in the China Hospitality Sector.’ This was announced at the China Hotel Industry Annual Human Resources Meeting held in Guangzhou. The event was co-hosted by China Hotel Magazine, Chinese Tourism Newspaper, Chinahotelhr.com, and China Hotel Industry Celebrity Club.

The award was based on national staff surveys, online and short message voting, and third-party expert reviews. Super 8 was recently appointed to the Beijing Olympic Village Management Team.

Mitchell A. Presnick, chairman and CEO of Super 8 China, said , ‘Super 8 China places great importance on contributing to the stable development of the Chinese economy hotel sector.’

Fang Guofan, Super 8 China’s senior vice president, said, ‘Super 8 China operates under three core values: “Super 8 Loves China”, “We Put People First”, and “Trust, Success, and Fairness”. It is gratifying to see the hospitality sector recognize our efforts.’

Super 8 Motels is one of the world’s largest economy lodging operators, with almost 2,100 hotels worldwide. The first Super 8 opened in Aberdeen, South Dakota, USA in 1974, charging US$8.88 per night.

Super 8 entered the China market in 2004 and opened its first hotel in Beijing on June 8, 2004. So far, the company has approximately 130 hotels either open or under construction in more than 70 cities across China.
Source: Earth Times

It’s award time again. Starwood Hotels & Resorts was voted ‘Best International Hotel Group’ at the TravelWeeklyChina Industry Awards 2007 held in December. Two of its China properties were particularly recognized:

Sheraton Sanya Resort — ‘Best MICE facility and Service Hotel’
The Westin Beijing Financial Street — ‘Best Business Hotel’ and ‘Hotel Chief of the Year’ (awarded to GM Charlie Dang)

Qian Jin, Senior VP of Operations for China & Taiwan at Starwood, said, ‘It has been a fruitful year in which Starwood has successfully opened nine hotels and signed over 20 new hotel deals’.

In China alone, the group has 40 hotels and another 40 currently in construction. New properties include the first hotel under the aloft brand in China, slated to open in mid-2008, and a W Hotel to open in Hong Kong later this year.
Source: PR Starwood Hotels & Resorts and TravelWeeklyChina

Business Traveller China magazine’s readers’ poll has called Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts ‘Best Business Hotel Brand in China’ for the third consecutive year.

The poll was conducted between July and October this year among the magazine’s readership of frequent travelers based mainly in China.

Business Traveller China is the China edition of Business Traveller magazine which has ten editions around the world.

There is a temptation to dismiss these polls because there are, first, so many of them and, second, the subscriber list is, by definition, restricted.

In fact, they serve an useful purpose. If anyone is willing to vote for any hotel as being suited for business travelers then it probably has a fair amount going for it. The magazine, which is published by a company called Panacea (it also does a medical journal), is based in London but has editions pretty much all over the world and is quite authoritative.

For the fourth consecutive year, The Westin Bund Center Shanghai has been voted in Conde Nast Traveler’s ‘Top 100, The Best of The Best Hotels in the World’. So, it is now one of the top 100 globally and one of the top 10 hotels in Asia.

In September this year, it unveiled a new Grand Tower with 269 plush rooms and suites which cost RMB100 million to refurbish from the former serviced apartment building. The hotel now has a total of 570 rooms.

It opened in 2002 and was Westin’s first property in China. There is also The Westin Beijing, Financial Street.

Hilton Sanya Resort & Spa has been voted ‘Asia’s Leading Spa Resort’ by the 2007 World Travel Awards, held on November 4 in Bangalore.

The resort is located along a 400-meter stretch of beach in Yalong Bay, southeast of Sanya City on Hainan Island. It has 501 guest rooms, six restaurants and bars, a stand-alone MICE Pavilion for meetings and banquets and extensive spa facilities at The Spa Retreat.

Photographed is Bharat Raheja (on left), Director of International Sales for Hilton, accepting the award.
Source: PR Hilton Sanya

The Regent Beijing ranked 11th in Asia at the recent Condé Nast Traveler US Readers’ Choice Awards 2007. This is only six months after its official opening.

The 500-room luxury hotel in Jinbao Street was ranked 11th for the top 75 hotels in Asia by Condé Nast Traveler readers. And in the world list came in at 56. Which is quite remarkable for a relatively recently opened hotel.

Carlson’s other luxury hotel in China, The Regent Shanghai came in at 20 in in the top 75 best hotels in Asia.

The results were derived from the largest independent poll of consumer preferences — the Readers’ Choice Survey. A record number of over 28,000 readers voted this year.

At another awards ceremony held in Shanghai recently, The Regent Beijing was also named one of the best new hotels by Travel + Leisure, which presented awards for the 100 Best China Hotels. The Regent Shanghai earned the best hotel award (Shanghai and Yangtze Delta), while Carlson’s other brands, the Radisson Hotel Pudong Century Park and Radisson Plaza Xing Guo Hotel Shanghai received awards for best new hotel and best hotel (Shanghai and Yangtze Delta) respectively.

Hilton Hefei in Anhui province was recognized as one of the Best Business Hotels in China by Forbes China. The guide surveys business execs in China and selects the top 50 hotels out of the 300 five-star hotels on the mainland. 

The hotel is the newest addition to Hilton’s properties in China having opened in February this year. Business incentives include 13 meeting rooms, an executive boardroom, 24-hour manned business center and a 1,600 square meter ballroom accomodating 1,200 people.

Pictured is Luc Bollen, General Manager, receiving the award.
Source: PR Hilton Hefei

Jinling Hotels & Resorts has opened another hotel, this time near the seaside city of Yancheng in Jiangsu province. Yidu Jinling Grand Hotel Yancheng is the first five-star hotel in the city and has 346 guest rooms and suites.

In April this year, the hotel group was named as China’s most popular domestic hotel brand of 2007 at the 4th Golden Pillow Awards, held by 21st Century Business Herald in Shanghai.   
Source: PR Jinling Hotels

The idea is simple. Give most of your business to a group and it will reward you with discounts and preferential treatment. InterContinental Hotels now plans to issue loyalty cards for consumers in China. But this is not just a straighforward loyalty card.

The IHG’s Priority Club Rewards is a co-branded Visa credit card which will be issued by Shanghai Pudong Development Bank’s credit card center in partnership with Citibank.

The theory is still simple. The credit card will allow users to earn points for everyday spending and double points on spending in IHG hotels worldwide. The points can be redeemed at hotels, airlines.

What is never quite clear is whether it is worth the bother.

For the frequent traveler and entertainer a case can be made. But it is quite possible to end up with a range of loyalty cards and the return is often not quite worth the bother for it stops you shopping around for the best bargain.

Many savvy travelers have now stopped using loyalty cards altogether and just buy on price. It will be interesting to see how successful this new joint IHG/Visa card will be. (The writer may be a tad biased. He still has a loyalty card from Ansett Airlines with stacks of points but no aircraft to fly on. And he has a lifetime membership of the Pan Am Clipper Club which cost serious money and is now not worth the plastic it was printed on.)
Source: Forbes