Travel Awards Cover 14/9/05 14:09 Page 1 brochure inside pages 14/9/05 14:19 Page 1 Introduction Welcome to the 19th annual Guardian, Observer and For those whose livelihoods depend on tourism, Guardian Unlimited Travel Awards. As the longest- 2004 ended on a terrible note. The devastating running independent survey of its kind, we believe tsunami which swept through the Indian Ocean was the results published in this brochure offer a unique proof of just how fragile this industry can be. But it and fascinating insight into the tastes and also served to illustrate the regenerative power of preferences of discerning travellers today. tourism. Predictions at the time that hotels would be up and running within weeks seemed impossibly Size isn’t everything, or so they say. And once again optimistic but the cynics were proved wrong, as the results of our survey prove that, when it comes destinations like Thailand, the Maldives and Sri to choosing a holiday, our readers tend to favour the Lanka hurried to rebuild their battered infrastructure. smaller, specialist companies over the big mass market operators. The same principle applies to their The fortunes of the travel industry have always preferred destinations. If these awards were judged been particularly vulnerable to events such as purely on the number of entries, then you might natural disasters or terrorism, but the huge response expect favourites such as France and Spain to win to these awards shows that our appetite for travel is every year. Our unique scoring system ensures that as strong as ever. We are delighted to be able to destinations are assessed on the satisfaction levels honour the very best in the industry and to reflect they deliver rather than just the number of people the views of an independent and adventurous who pass through. This can throw up some readership. interesting - and at times unexpected - results. The response to our 2005 awards survey was huge. We received nearly 27,000 completed questionnaires. The coupon was published for three weeks in the Guardian, The Observer and on Guardian Unlimited earlier this year asking readers about their holidays. An independent company recorded the data and, in the following pages, you can see how the responses have been translated into results tables. The scoring is straightforward, with readers being asked to rate the quality of service they received on their holidays by ticking one of four boxes: excellent, good, fair or poor. Each company's score was translated into a percentage, allowing us to compare small companies – assessed on fewer holidaymakers’ ratings – with larger rivals. A threshold of 50 questionnaires was set in the main Andy Pietrasik, Joanne O’Connor Gwyn Topham, categories, with a sliding scale for those categories Travel editor, Travel editor, Travel editor, obtaining a smaller number of total responses. The Guardian The Observer Guardian Unlimited 1 brochure inside pages 14/9/05 14:19 Page 2 Best travel agent Best online booking service The big online sellers are closing the gap, but Despite achieving a higher satisfaction rating, Trailfinders takes the award for the fourth time last year’s winner is overtaken by eight others, in five years. including winner Exodus’s site - simple and with clear instructions. rankings last year's coupons % score rankings last year's coupons % score rankings rankings 1. Trailfinders 1 739 90.6 1. exodus.co.uk - 82 89.3 2. STA Travel 8 945 88.6 2. jet2.com - 51 88.7 3. Flight Centre 9 194 86.9 3. portland-direct.co.uk - 54 87.5 4. Expedia.co.uk 7 365 86.4 4. virginholidays.co.uk 9 187 86.4 5. Bath Travel - 54 85.7 5. exploreworldwide.co.uk 7 73 86.0 6. Travelcare - 507 85.4 6. statravel.co.uk 20 215 85.9 7. Airline Network - 57 84.2 7. thomascook.com 3 220 85.6 8. Travelbag 4 182 84.1 8. canadianaffair.com - 58 84.1 9. Thomas Cook 5 1,041 83.1 9. airline-network.co.uk 1 127 83.9 10. Dial A Flight.co.uk - 72 82.6 10. expedia.co.uk 8 2,079 83.6 11. Lastminute.com 14 302 82.0 11. brittany-ferries.co.uk 16 83 83.4 12. British Airways 12. eurocamp.co.uk - 58 83.2 Holidays 6 123 80.7 13. easyjet.com 5 1,202 83.2 13. Going Places 13 289 80.0 14. directholidays.co.uk - 53 83.0 14. Bridge The World 3 61 79.5 15. octupustravel.com 13 89 82.9 15. Opodo - 62 79.4 16. ferrysavers.com - 52 82.7 16. MyTravel - 52 79.3 17. britishairways.com 11 603 82.6 17. Airmiles Travel 18. travelbag.co.uk 6 94 82.5 Company 12 72 79.2 19. klm.com - 53 82.1 18. Thomson 11 271 78.8 20. flybmi.com 2 214 81.9 19. Lunn Poly 10 420 78.6 21. firstchoice.co.uk - 136 81.3 20. First Choice 15 266 78.2 22. opodo.co.uk 10 454 81.1 21. Ebookers 17 129 74.8 23. eurostar.com 14 120 80.8 22. Airtours Holidays - 78 70.8 24. travelocity.co.uk 15 143 80.4 Total 6,281 83.9 25. lastminute.com 17 987 80.3 26. thomson.co.uk - 176 80.3 27. mytravel.com 21 82 79.6 28. airmiles.co.uk - 86 78.8 29. ebookers.com 19 491 76.7 30. ryanair.com 12 651 76.3 31. bargainholidays.com 22 54 75.5 Total 9,027 82.0 2 brochure inside pages 14/9/05 14:19 Page 3 Best tour operator Are African tailor-made travel specialists Rainbow Tours becoming the new Laskarina - holding on to the crown year after year? Second place Vintage are the only new face in the closely fought top ten. rankings last year's coupons % score rankings 1. Rainbow Tours 1 162 99.1 36. Canadian Affair - 50 82.5 2. Vintage Travel - 70 98.9 37. Portland Holidays 3. Laskarina Holidays 2 124 96.8 Direct - 68 82.0 4. Inntravel 3 113 96.0 38. Thomas Cook 19 948 81.7 5. Tapestry Holidays 5 121 93.2 39. Cresta Holidays 29 60 81.7 6. Neilson 6 153 92.5 40. Eurostar - 71 80.6 7. Canvas Holidays 4 111 92.1 41. Qantas - 58 80.6 8. Journey 42. British Airways Latin America 9 64 91.0 Holidays 33 471 80.2 9. VFB Holidays 8 80 90.9 43. Direct Holidays - 92 78.5 10. Trailfinders 10 233 90.8 44. Hayes & Jarvis - 51 77.9 11. Emirates Tours - 53 90.6 45. Kosmar 25 112 75.9 12. Exodus 14 196 90.6 46. Crystal Holidays 34 151 75.3 13. The Imaginative 47. Panorama Holidays - 86 75.0 Traveller - 55 90.5 48. Thomson 36 984 74.9 14. The Adventure 49. First Choice 39 476 74.6 Company - 53 89.6 50. Cosmos Holidays 41 101 73.8 15. Ramblers Holidays 16 66 89.0 51. Manos Holidays 40 113 73.0 16. Sunvil 15 67 88.8 52. Going Places - 55 72.7 17. Explore 12 266 88.7 53. Airtours Holidays 44 375 69.9 18. P&O Ferries - 84 88.7 54. MyTravel 45 123 69.3 19. Cox & Kings - 50 88.5 Total 8,928 82.8 20. Saga Holidays 7 115 88.3 21. Simply Travel 18 242 88.0 Airlines included where it is possible to book flights 22. STA Travel 30 288 87.6 and accommodation 23. The Travel Collection - 56 87.5 24. Mark Warner 13 85 87.4 25. Virgin Holidays 32 350 86.1 26. Voyages Jules Verne 26 204 86.0 27. Kuoni 22 379 86.0 28. Keycamp Holidays - 58 84.5 29. Page & Moy 28 53 84.4 30. Eurocamp 17 118 83.5 31. Magic Travel Group 23 77 83.4 32. Bridge The World - 62 83.1 33. Brittany Ferries 21 64 82.8 34. Travelsphere - 71 82.8 35. Inghams Travel 27 140 82.5 3 brochure inside pages 14/9/05 14:19 Page 4 Best short break company Best ski company Inntravel take the prize for the third successive year, With fewer coupons returned in this category, a while VFB hang on to second spot again. couple of bad scores can make all the difference. Our top three have maintained the highest ratings for the second year running. rankings last year's coupons % score rankings last year's coupons % score rankings rankings 1. Inntravel 1 67 95.5 1. Inntravel 1 28 92.0 2. VFB Holidays 2 86 91.9 2. Waymark Holidays 2 47 91.5 3. STA Travel - 65 91.2 3. Neilson 3 284 90.9 4. Voyages Jules Verne 16 60 87.5 4. Virgin Holidays - 22 86.4 5. Thomas Cook 3 197 85.7 5. Club Mediteranee - 20 86.3 6. Short Breaks 12 69 85.1 6. Mark Warner 5 85 86.2 7. Virgin Holidays - 53 84.9 7. Ski Beat - 22 84.1 8. Cresta Holidays 5 173 84.3 8. Ski World 7 79 82.9 9. Bridge Travel 9 97 83.3 9. Eurostar - 29 81.9 10. Aer Lingus - 82 83.2 10. Thomas Cook 9 37 80.4 11. Centre Parcs 6 70 82.5 11. Inghams Travel 10 230 79.9 12. Eurostar 15 446 82.2 12. Iglu 13 45 77.2 13.