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Travel Brochure PDF 12/10/06 12:49 Page 1 Travel Brochure PDF 12/10/06 12:49 Page 2 Introduction Welcome to the 20th Guardian, Observer and Guardian beaches, ancient ruins, mountains and, most importantly, the Unlimited Travel Awards. When the Observer launched these communities – on which this industry so heavily relies. awards two decades ago, they were the first reader awards of We also wanted to give a special mention to larger operators any kind to feature in a national newspaper. They were fairly that, despite our scoring system, sometimes get overlooked in basic, with only five categories: best tour operator (Thomson), certain categories as they are providing a high level of service to favourite airline (British Airways), favourite UK destination (Lake such a large number of people; those categories are tour District), short-haul (France) and long-haul destination (US). But operator and short break company. Therefore, for these then so was the way we travelled back then: take a break in the categories we have awarded two winners, one mainstream UK, or book a package deal with a travel agent to somewhere operator and one specialist operator. Mainstream companies sunny. were those who had 3% or more of the total votes, specialist These days, we’re much more likely to put together our own companies those that had less. holidays to any destination in the world with cheap online For the 2006 awards, we received 15,000 completed flights than we are to visit a high street travel agent questionnaires (there were 9,000 in the first year). The coupon (interestingly, the winner of this year’s travel agent prize, Travel was published for three weeks in the Guardian, the Observer Counsellors, a network of travel specialists, will come to your and on Guardian Unlimited earlier this year asking readers home). As a result, over the years, we’ve expanded and refined about their holidays. An independent company recorded the the categories in the awards to reflect this. For example, we data and, in the following pages, you can see how the introduced the notion of rating the quality of service over sheer responses have been translated into table results. The scoring is quantity of votes; we introduced a section for online booking straightforward, with readers being asked to rate the quality of service; the best short-haul airline category reflects the the service they received on their holidays by ticking four boxes: spectacular growth in weekend breaks abroad, and is now excellent, good, fair or poor. Each company’s score was dominated not only by the low-cost airlines but also by more translated into a percentage, allowing us to compare small established airlines, such as British Airways, that have had to companies – assessed on fewer holidaymakers’ ratings – with compete for this market. larger rivals. In terms of destinations, France and the US, were the old When we set up these awards two decades ago, nobody could favourites, but over the years, our readers have become much have predicted how much would change in the way we travel. more adventurous, and countries from Iceland to Slovenia, and But one thing remains certain: word of mouth is always the best Chile to New Zealand have since topped these categories. guide to where to go on holiday, who to go with and where to This year, we’ve introduced the ethical tourism prize as a stay. Which is why asking the readers of the Guardian, the reflection of readers’ growing appetite for sustainable travel. Observer and Guardian Unlimited Travel for their personal We want to reward companies and schemes that are making a recommendations remains as relevant today as it was 20 years real effort to protect and sustain the assets – the pristine ago. Andy Pietrasik, Joanne O’Connor Liane Katz, Travel editor, Travel editor, Travel editor, The Guardian The Observer Guardian Unlimited 1 Travel Brochure PDF 12/10/06 12:49 Page 4 Best travel agent Best online booking service After three years at the top, Trailfinders have been pipped by Travel Direct Holidays have made an impressive leap from 14th place in last Counsellors, who use an innovative system of travel agents working year’s awards to take victory this year, while the airlines have shown a by phone from home. big improvement with British Airways, Easyjet and Jet2.com all making it into the top six. rankings last year's coupons % score rankings last year's coupons % score rankings rankings 1 Travel Counsellors – 247 99.29 1 directholidays.co.uk 14 90 90.56 2 Trailfinders 1 609 90.72 2 explore.co.uk 5 63 90.08 3 Travelcare 6 101 88.37 3 exodus.co.uk 1 84 88.69 4 Co-op Travel – 120 85 4 jet2.com 2 68 87.87 5 Dial A Flight.co.uk 10 49 84.69 5 easyjet.com 13 566 85.16 6 British Airways Holidays 12 44 84.66 6 britishairways.com 17 397 85.14 7 STA Travel 2 214 84 7 travelbag.co.uk 18 70 85 8 Expedia.co.uk 4 266 83.46 8 firstchoice.co.uk 21 134 84.33 9 Opodo 15 55 82.73 9 virginholidays.co.uk 4 110 82.95 10 Airline Network 7 50 81.5 10 airline-network.co.uk 9 111 82.88 11 Flight Centre 3 85 80.59 11 expedia.co.uk 10 1241 82.7 12 Travelbag 8 103 80.1 12 opodo.co.uk 22 263 81.56 13 Going Places 13 148 80.07 13 travelocity.co.uk 24 74 81.42 14 Lunn Poly 19 61 79.92 14 airmiles.co.uk 28 74 81.08 15 Thomas Cook 9 469 79.37 15 thomson.co.uk 26 193 80.18 16 First Choice 20 207 77.17 16 thomascook.com 7 129 78.88 17 Lastminute.com 11 182 75.55 17 lastminute.com 25 643 78.69 18 Ebookers 17 60 74.17 18 ryanair.com 30 420 78.33 19 eurostar.com 23 102 78.19 20 ebookers.com 29 229 75.76 Total 3,070 82.9 Total 5,061 82.9 2 3 Travel Brochure PDF 12/10/06 12:49 Page 6 Best tour operator Best short break company Best ski company Best cruise line This year we’ve split this category into two – mainstream and Again we’re using two categories, which has opened up the way for Once again a specialist company takes the best ski company title – With its unstuffy cruise product aimed at a younger, more active specialist – to acknowledge the very different type of market they online travel agent Expedia to grab the top spot in the mainstream Waymark operate cross-country, telemark and snowshoeing trips clientele, Ocean Village has beaten off competition from more serve. Heading the mainstream category is long-haul operator Audley category. In the specialist category, last year’s winner, Inntravel, takes among others, which prove hugely popular among their loyal traditional cruise lines to take this year’s number one slot. Travel, while in the specialist category tailor-made Africa operator the title for the fourth year running. clientele. Inghams comes top among the big ski operators, just Rainbow Tours hangs onto its lead for the third consecutive year. pipping Neilson to the post. rankings last year's coupons % score rankingsrankings last last year'syear's coupons coupons % % scorescore rankings last year's coupons % score rankings last year's coupons % score rankings rankingsrankings rankings rankings Mainstream operators 1 MainstreamTrailfinders operators 1 739 90.6 1 Waymark Holidays 2 40 90 1 Ocean Village 14 21 79.76 1 Audley Travel – 423 99.23 21 ExpediaSTA Travel 8 945135 84.07 88.6 2 Eurostar 9 21 85.71 2 Thomson Cruises 15 44 69.89 2 Trailfinders 10 304 90.87 23 EurostarFlight Centre 12 9 561194 82.89 86.9 3 Equity Travel 13 23 83.7 3 Royal Caribbean International 4 66 63.64 3 Explore 17 215 88.14 34 TheExpedia.co.uk Airmiles Travel Company 17 7 365 95 81.58 86.4 4 Virgin Holidays 4 21 80.95 4 DFDS Seaways 13 24 62.5 4 Kuoni 27 250 86.4 45 ThomsonBath Travel 21 - 137 54 81.285.7 5 Iglu 12 42 80.36 5 Princess Cruises 8 43 60.47 5 Virgin Holidays 25 206 84.71 56 CrestaTravelcare Holidays 8 - 507101 81.19 85.4 6 Inghams Travel 11 153 79.41 6 Celebrity Cruises 1 14 58.93 6 British Airways Holidays 42 187 82.49 67 BritishAirline AirwaysNetwork Holidays 15 - 242 57 79.96 84.2 7 Neilson 3 107 79.21 7 P&O Cruises 9 140 58.39 7 Thomas Cook 38 425 77.29 78 CityTravelbag Breaks 20 4 104 182 78.37 84.1 8 Mark Warner 6 54 77.31 8 Norwegian Cruise Line 6 64 54.69 8 Thomson 48 641 75.66 89 Thomas Cook 5 1,041109 76.15 83.1 9 Ski World 8 59 76.69 9 Fred Olsen Cruise Lines 3 39 53.85 9 First Choice 49 430 73.9 109 Lastminute.comDial A Flight.co.uk - 98 72 75.51 82.6 10 Airtours Holidays 18 26 75.96 10 Voyage of Discovery 7 21 53.57 11 Lastminute.com 14 302 82.0 11 Thomas Cook 10 39 73.08 11 Cunard Line 5 52 53.37 Total 3,081 84.3 12 TotalBritish Airways 1,582 80.1 12 Thomson 17 78 69.9 12 Carnival Cruise Lines 11 27 50.93 Holidays 6 123 80.7 13 Crystal Holidays 14 182 69.51 13 Swan Hellenic 2 25 50 Specialist operators 13 SpecialistGoing Places operators 13 289 80.0 14 Panorama 15 22 68.18 1 Rainbow Tours 1 89 98.03 141 InntravelBridge The World 13 46 61 89.67 79.5 15 First Choice 16 80 65 2 Laskarina Holidays 3 81 95.99 152 VFBOpodo Holidays 2 - 80 62 88.75 79.4 3 Tapestry Holidays 5 83 93.07 163 BrittanyMyTravel Ferries 16 - 59 52 84.75 79.3 Total 580 59.2 4 Exodus 12 145 90.52 174 VoyagesAirmiles TravelJules Verne 4 55 84.55 5 Saga Holidays 20 94 89.36 5 ShortCompany Breaks 126 67 72 82.84 79.2 Total 947 76.9 6 Canvas Holidays 7 73 89.04 186 STAThomson Travel 311 27152 82.69 78.8 7 Eurocamp 30 71 87.68 197 VirginLunn PolyHolidays 10 7 420 41 81.71 78.6 8 Voyages Jules Verne 26 165 86.36 208 FirstAer LingusChoice 10 15 266 89 81.46 78.2 9 Direct Holidays 43 75 82.67 219 SuperbreakEbookers 14 17 12982 80.79 74.8 10 Eurostar 40 90 82.22 1022 KLMAirtours Holidays 22 - 7578 80.33 70.8 11 STA Travel 22 115 82.17 11 AirTotal France 18 6,281 49 76.53 83.9 12 Inghams Travel 35 99 78.28 12 P&O Ferries 19 86 76.16 13 Cosmos Travel 50 72 76.04 14 Airtours Holidays 53 167 73.8 15 Mytravel 54 85 70.88 16 Crystal Holidays 46 96 69.27 Total 781 82.5 Airlines included where it is possible to book flights and accommodation Total 1,600 84.1 Airlines included where it is possible to book flights and accommodation.