Rainbow Tours, an independent tour operator specialising in tailor-made holidays to Southern and East Africa and the Indian Ocean Islands, is the winner…
Rainbow Tours, an independent tour operator specialising in tailor-made holidays to Southern and East Africa and the Indian Ocean Islands, is the winner of the Best Tour Operator category in the 2004 Guardian/Observer/Guardian Unlimited Travel Awards.
Jeannette Hyde, Travel Editor of the Observer, said: “African tailor-made travel specialist Rainbow Tours provides a genuinely high quality service that has put them at the top of our readers’ list for 2004. From luxury honeymoons in Madagascar to historical tours of Ethiopia, Rainbow can do it all.”
Rainbow Tours has zoomed into the number one slot from nowhere toppling Greek holiday specialists Laskarina from the position they had held for eight consecutive years. Both companies are run by husband and wife teams, demonstrating our readers’ support for the independent sector.
Andy Pietrasik, Travel Editor of the Guardian, added: “The 2004 Awards featured some surprises. Slovenia is the favourite European country in a category where Nordic countries take three of the four top slots. Havana came from nowhere to reach third place in the Favourite Overseas City category and the YHA also came third in the Best UK Hotel category, showing that low prices don’t mean low standards.”
For the fifth year running Edinburgh is the UK’s favourite city, with Glasgow at number two and Newcastle, the top ranked English city, coming third. Country Durham’s Seaham Hall won the new category of Best Spa Break.
Inntravel, based near Castle Howard in Yorkshire, swept the board in three categories, winning Best Short Break, Best Ski Company and Best Tour Operator Website.
Gwyn Topham, Travel Editor of Guardian Unlimited, said: London and the south might be the first point of call for many overseas visitors but our awards have long shown that incoming tourists would do well to head north. This year, the north of Britain leads in every domestic category from cities to car hire, spas to hotels.
Melbourne nudges Sydney off the top spot for Favourite Overseas City and New Zealand found favour in the favourite long-haul country category, which also sees Peru, Australia and Vietnam bouncing back.
Trailfinders lead the way as the Best Travel Agent and newcomer Airline Network wins the Best Online Booking Service.
As the lines between charter, no-frills and scheduled flights become increasingly blurred Finnair wins the Best Short-Haul Airline, which replaces the low cost airline category.
Virgin Atlantic wins Best Business Airline for the fifth year running, closely followed by Lufthansa. Singapore Airlines wins the top spot in the Best Long Haul Airline category.
Brittany Ferries and Eurotunnel win Best Ferry Company and Best Train Company respectively. Scottish-based Arnold Clark wins Best Car Hire Company by a clear margin for the second year running.
Best Tour Operator: 1. Rainbow Tours 2.Laskarina 3. Inntravel
Best Travel Agent: 1. Trailfinders 2.Travelcare 3.Bridge the World
Best Online Booking Service: 1.Airline-network.co.uk 2.Bmibaby.com 3. Thomascook.co.uk
Best Short Break Company: 1.Inntravel 2.VFB Holidays 3.Thomas Cook
Best Ski Company: 1. Inntravel 2.Waymark 3.Neilson
Best Spa Break:1.Seaham Hall 2.Ragdale Hall 3.Centre Parcs
Best Cruise Line: 1. Cunard 2. Swan Hellenic Cruises 3. Fred Olsen Cruise Lines
Best Short-Haul Airline: 1. Finnair 2.Jet 2 3.Air Berlin
Best Business Airline: 1.Virgin Atlantic 2.Lufthansa 3.BMI
Best Long-Haul Airline: 1.Singapore Airlines 2.Emirates 3.Cathay Pacific
Best Ferry Company: 1. Brittany Ferries 2.Caledonian Macbrayne 3.Norfolkline
Best Train Company: 1. Eurotunnel 2.Chiltern 3.Eurostar
Best Car Hire Company: 1. Arnold Clark 2.Thrifty 3.Enterprise Rent-A-Car
Best UK Hotels: 1.Hotel Du Vin 2.Malmaison 3.YHA
Best Overseas Hotel: 1.Shangri-La 2.Four Seasons 3.Paradors of Spain
Favourite UK City: 1.Edinburgh 2.Glasgow 3.Newcastle 4.York 5.Belfast 6.Durham 7.Salisbury 8.Bath 9.Lincoln 10.Chester
Favourite Overseas City: 1.Melbourne 2.Sydney 3.Havana
Favourite European Country: 1. Slovenia 2.Iceland 3.Finland
Favourite Long-Haul Country: 1. New Zealand 2.Peru 3.Australia
Best Guide Book: 1.Dorling Kindersley 2.Footprint 3.Cadogan
Best Brochure of the Year: Tapestry Holidays, Marrakech
Best Tour operator Website: Inntravel
Mariella Frostrup announced the winners of this year’s Awards at a prestigious ceremony held in Rhodes. Full details of the winners, including a downloadable version of the Awards brochure will appear online immediately at guardian.co.uk/travel/awards2004. Followed by coverage in the Weekend Guardian Travel and Observer Escape sections on 15 and 16 May.
Launched 18 years ago The Guardian/Observer/Guardian Unlimited Travel Awards are the most established consumer travel awards in Britain. Readers are invited to participate in an extensive survey, rating the companies they have travelled with and the cities and countries they visited. This year more than 22,000 readers responded to the survey.
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