Lifetime achievement awards
Travel Weekly presented four Lifetime Achievement Awards to members of the travel community whose efforts have led to extraordinary results within an organization and who also have contributed to the industry as a whole.
This year, the recipients were:
• Roger Dow, President and CEO, U.S. Travel Association
• Randy Garfield, President, Walt Disney Travel Company and executive vice president, worldwide sales and travel operations, Disney Destinations
• Jonathan Tisch, Chairman, Loews Hotels & Resorts and Co-Chairman of the Board, Loews Corp.
• Valerie Ann Wilson, Founder, Chairman and CEO, Valerie Wilson Travel
The winners of the 10th annual Travel Weekly Readers Choice Awards were honored Thursday at a gala awards dinner at the Plaza Hotel in New York.
Winners were selected in 59 categories in the airline, car, hospitality, rail, GDS, agent education, tour, cruise, destination and theme park sectors. The awards are presented to suppliers considered by Travel Weekly readers to have excelled in product and service during the past year.
In the first round of voting, Travel Weekly readers were invited to write in the names of any company they believed best exemplified a particular category. Leading vote recipients were identified as finalists, and voting on finalists took place this fall.
"These awards identify the industry's finest," said Arnie Weissmann, Travel Weekly's editor in chief. "The professionals who read and rely on Travel Weekly have the expertise to select those businesses, destinations and hotels that provide a higher level of service to their clients. Our readers can be confident that these winners represent the best this industry has to offer."
The following is a list of this year's Readers' Choice winners: (For a complete list of nominees, click here.)
Best in Airlines
- Domestic: Delta Air Lines
- International: Virgin Atlantic
- Business/First Class: Emirates
Best in Car Rental
- Domestic: Hertz
- International: Hertz
Best in Hotel Chains
- Domestic: Marriott International
- Asia: InterContinental Hotels Group
- Caribbean: Sandals Resorts
- Europe: InterContinental Hotels Group
- Mexico: Dreams Resorts & Spas
- Hawaii/South Pacific: Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide
- Sales & Service: Marriott International
- All-Inclusive: Sandals Resorts
- Boutique: Karisma Hotels & Resorts
- Luxury: Ritz-Carlton Hotels & Resorts
- Mid-Priced: Hampton Inn
- Upscale: Westin Hotels & Resorts
Best Las Vegas Hotel
Best Resort Worldwide
Best in Tour Operators
- Domestic Packaged: Gogo Worldwide Vacations
- Domestic Escorted: Tauck
- International: Globus
- Africa: Abercrombie & Kent
- Asia/Pacific: Globus
- Canada: Tauck
- Caribbean: Travel Impressions
- Europe: Trafalgar Tours
- Hawaii: Pleasant Holidays
- Mexico: Apple Vacations
- Luxury: Abercrombie & Kent
- Sales & Service: Travel Impressions
Best in Cruise Lines
- Domestic: Royal Caribbean International
- Alaska: Princess Cruises
- Caribbean: Royal Caribbean International
- Europe: Celebrity Cruises
- Luxury: The Yachts of Seabourn
- Premium: Celebrity Cruises
- River Cruising: Viking River Cruises
- Sales & Service: Royal Caribbean International
- Overall: Royal Caribbean International
Best in Cruise Ships
- Luxury: Queen Mary 2, Cunard Line
- Premium: Celebrity Solstice, Celebrity Cruises
- River Cruising: S.S. Antoinette, Uniworld Boutique River Cruise Collection
- Rookie: Celebrity Silhouette, Celebrity Cruises
- Overall: Norwegian Epic, Norwegian Cruise Line
Best in Destinations
- Africa: South Africa
- Asia/Pacific: Australia
- Canada: Vancouver
- Caribbean: St. Lucia
- Central/South America: Costa Rica
- Europe: England
- Hawaii: Maui
- Mexico: Riviera Maya
- U.S. State: Hawaii
- U.S. City: Las Vegas
Best Travel Agent Program
- NCL University, Norwegian Cruise Line
Best GDS
Best Rail Vacation
Best Theme Park