SmartTravelAsia.com web readers vote in Asia’s best business hotels, luxury resorts, spas, destinations, business cities, and the world’s best airlines and airports.
Four of the Top 10 Holiday Destinations in Asia are in Thailand — Phuket (2nd), Bangkok (6th), Samui (8th) and Hua Hin (9th). The tropical island of Phuket was voted second best destination once again. Bangkok also ranks among Asia’s top-three best cities for business. Twenty of Thailand’s spa hotels and resorts are in the SmartTravelAsia.com list of Best Spa Hotels in Asia.
THAILAND RANKINGS AT A GLANCE
2007 SMART TRAVEL ASIA “BEST IN TRAVEL” POLL
TOP 10 HOLIDAY DESTINATIONS |
2007 Rank |
2006 Rank |
2. Phuket, Thailand |
2 |
6. Bangkok, Thailand |
4 |
8. Koh Samui, Thailand |
-- |
9. Hua Hin, Thailand |
-- |
|
TOP 10 CITIES FOR BUSINESS |
2007 Rank |
2006 Rank |
1. Hong Kong |
1 |
2. Singapore |
2 |
3. Bangkok, Thailand |
3 |
|
TOP 25 SPA HOTELS & RESORTS |
Twenty of Thailand’s spa hotels and resorts are in the SmartTravelAsia.com list of Best Spa Hotels in Asia.
| 3. |
The Peninsula Bangkok |
| 5. |
Amanpuri, Aman Spa, Phuket |
| 7. |
Banyan Tree Phuket
Sila Evason Hideaway & Spa, Koh Samui |
| 8. |
Mandarin Oriental Dhara Dhevi, Chiang Mai |
| 9. |
JW Marriott Phuket Resort And Spa |
| 10. |
Conrad Bangkok |
| 11. |
The Tonsai Bay, Koh Samui |
| 12. |
The Oriental Bangkok |
| 13. |
Sofitel Centara Grand Resort & Villas, Hua Hin
Four Seasons Resort Chiang Mai |
| 14. |
Aleenta Resort & Spa Hua Hin |
| 15. |
Anantara Resort & Spa Golden Triangle, Chiang Rai |
| 16. |
Shangri-La Bangkok, Chi Spa |
| 17. |
Plaza Athenee Bangkok, A Royal Meridien Hotel |
| 18. |
Bangkok Marriott Resort & Spa, Bangkok |
| 19. |
Evason Hideaway & Spa at Hua Hin |
| 20. |
Le Meridien Khao Kak Beach & Spa Resort
Chiva Som Resort Hua Hin |
| 25. |
The Chedi, Phuket |
|
For details, please visit
www.smarttravelasia.com/travelpoll.htm
|
|
TOP 10 AIRPORTS |
2007 Rank |
2006 Rank |
1. Hong Kong International Airport |
1 |
2. Singapore Changi Airport |
2 |
3. Kuala Lumpur International Airport |
3 |
4. Suvarnabhumi Airport, Bangkok |
- |
8. Koh Samui Airport, Thailand |
4 |
|
TOP 10 AIRLINES WORLDWIDE |
2007 Rank |
2006 Rank |
1. Singapore Airlines |
2 |
2. Cathay Pacific Airlines |
1 |
3. Thai Airways International |
3 |
|
TOP 10 AIRLINES – CABIN SERVICE |
2007 Rank |
2006 Rank |
1. Singapore Airlines |
1 |
2. Cathay Pacific Airlines |
2 |
3. Thai Airways International |
3 |
|
TOP 10 BUDGET AIRLINES |
2007 Rank |
2006 Rank |
1. AirAsia |
1 |
2. Jetstar Asia |
2 |
3. Nok Air |
4 |
|
TOP 25 BUSINESS HOTELS |
Seven out of the Top 25 of Asia’s best business hotels are in Bangkok. |
2007 Rank |
2006 Rank |
|
|
3 |
| 8. |
Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit Bangkok
[tied with Four Seasons Hotel Singapore] |
|
9 |
|
|
|
| 16. |
Intercontinental Bangkok |
|
-- |
| 21. |
The Sukhothai Bangkok
[tied with Hilton Hanoi Opera] |
|
-- |
| 22. |
Plaza Athenee Bangkok |
|
-- |
| 24. |
The Peninsula Bangkok |
|
-- |
|
TOP 25 LEISURE HOTELS & RESORTS |
2007 Rank |
2006 Rank |
|
|
3 |
| 12. |
The Oriental Bangkok
[tied with The Empire Hotel & Country Club, Brunei] |
|
10 |
| 14. |
Twin Palms Phuket
[tied with Amankila, Bali] |
|
16 |
| 15. |
JW Marriott Phuket Resort and Spa
[tied with El Nido Resort Lagen Island, Palawan] |
|
14 |
| 16. |
Sofitel Centara Grand Resort & Villas, Hua Hin
[tied with Al Maha Desert Resort & Spa, Dubai, and The Oberoi Amarvilas, Agra |
|
-- |
| 17. |
The Sukhothai Bangkok |
|
20 |
| 19. |
Banyan Tree Phuket
[tied with One & Only Royal Mirage, Dubai] |
|
15 |
| 20. |
The Chedi Chiang Mai
[tied with Sheraton Haikou Resort, Hainan] |
|
-- |
| 23. |
The Chedi Phuket
[tied with Raffles Grand Hotel D'Angkor] |
|
19 |
|
TOP 25 CONFERENCE HOTELS |
2007 Rank |
2006 Rank |
|
|
1 |
| 11. |
Dusit Thani Bangkok
[tied with
JW Marriott Hong Kong
Park Hyatt Saigon] |
|
11
9
--
|
| 12. |
Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit, Bangkok |
|
17 |
| 13. |
Four Seasons Hotel Bangkok
[tied with
Grand InterContinental Seoul
Conrad Tokyo, Tokyo] |
|
--
10
8 |
| 14. |
Sheraton Grande Laguna Phuket |
|
9 |
| 16. |
InterContinental Bangkok
JW Marriott Bangkok |
|
--
--
|
| 22. |
Shangri-La Bangkok
[tied with The Ritz-Carlton Bali] |
|
--
24
|
| 24. |
Bangkok Marriott Resort & Spa
[tied with The Portman Ritz-Carlton Shanghai] |
|
--
--
|
|
Please visit http://www.smarttravelasia.com/travelpoll.htm for the full listings.
Methodology
The SmartTravelAsia.com poll ran for three key months May-July 2007 to catch prime frequent travellers around the world at various peak travel and web activity periods.
SmartTravelAsia.com reports that over 2,000 qualified votes were tabulated, weighted, and verified. On average, these voters took 14.79 air trips over the past 12 months (as many as 10.2 percent took over 40 air trips) and earned US$164,684 in household income, making them prime business and leisure travellers whose key interest is travel to (or within) Asia.
As many as 60 per cent of voters were based in Asia (largely Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, China, India, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Japan), 20 per cent in UK/Europe and 20 per cent in USA and North America. Apart from the big regional blocs, readers voted from countries as diverse as Ukraine, Russia, Estonia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Brazil, Mexico, the UAE, Israel and Macau, outlining their perceptions of brand leaders based on a sizeable amount of actual travel and “brand image” drawn from various sources.
As many as 89 percent of voters said they drew their primary brand information and “image” from the Internet, with eight percent looking to print media and 2.9 per cent, television. And as many as 85.9 per cent said they made travel decisions online “frequently” but only after sourcing “independent information”. An overwhelming 83.9 per cent said that online their primary interest was in “information and reviews” and only 16.1 per cent said their prime activity was pursuing “best prices”.
Source: SmartTravelAsia.com
For full details, please visit
http://www.smarttravelasia.com/travelpoll.htm
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