Mekhatlo e ntle ka ho fetisisa ea khoebo ea maeto ea China e senotsoe

SHANGHAI, China – Three months of voting culminated at the 6th Annual TTG China Travel Awards 2013 Ceremony and Gala Dinner, where 59 of Greater China’s best travel trade organizations were lauded for their outstanding achievements over the past year.

These 59 winners were decided through over 38,000 valid votes cast by travel trade professionals such as travel consultants, tour operators and destination management companies, who named their organizations of choice for each award title online and on print forms provided in TTG China and TTG-BTmice China.

Twenty organizations were first-time winners at the TTG China Travel Awards this year, including American Airlines, Best American Airline Servicing China, which made its way into a category dominated by a majority of long-time winners such as Air China (Best China Airline), Singapore Airlines (Best Asian Airline Servicing China), and Air France (Best European Airline Servicing China).

In the Resort Hotel category, Banyan Tree Hangzhou clinched the Best Resort in China, while Holiday Inn Resort Changbaishan’s win as Best New Resort in China marked the Changbaishan region’s debut in the TTG China Travel Awards. Chengdu also made its debut as Best City in China (Leisure Travel), positioning itself against other top destination front-runners.

“The diversity and dynamism of China in its entirety is what makes it one of the leading players in the industry today,” says TTG Asia Media Managing Director Darren Ng. “It’s exciting to see destinations like Chengdu and Changbaishan opening up and developing at such a rapid rate.”

Despite Chengdu’s growing popularity in the MICE industry, Shanghai still retained its Best City in China (BT-MICE) award title for the 6th year running. On the outbound front, Tourism Australia’s focus on MICE has helped it snag the Best Overseas NTO in China promoting BT-MICE, yielding the Best NTO in China award to Macau Government Tourist Office.

Notably, two of last year’s Best New Hotels, Sheraton Beijing Dongcheng Hotel and St. Regis Shenzhen, sustained their standards of excellence, and went on to clinch the Best Business Hotel in Beijing and Best Luxury Hotel in Shenzhen respectively. Some of the Best New Hotels include a Luxury Collection Hotel, Twelve at Hengshan, Shanghai (Best New Hotel in Shanghai) and the Crowne Plaza Hong Kong Kowloon East (Best New Hotel in Hong Kong).

This year’s awards also saw 7 long-time winners (having won since the TTG China Travel Award’s inauguration in 2008) defend their titles – Air China, Singapore Airlines, Shanghai, Ascott China, Holiday Inn Macau, The Garden Hotel, Guangzhou, and The Venetian Macao-Resort-Hotel.

“These organizations are undisputedly the leaders of the industry. It is no mean feat to stay on top in this competitive climate,” said Mr. Ng.

The TTG China Travel Awards is a TTG Travel Trade Publishing Event organized by TTG China and held yearly in Shanghai, in conjunction with IT&CM China in Shanghai. Voting for the TTG China Travel Awards 2014 opens in January 2014.

More information on the TTG China Travel Awards can be found at: www.ttgchina.com/ttg-awards