THIS ISSUE’S PICKS

Welcome to the November issue, and one where we have cause for celebration. The first reason for having a party is, of course, the Business Traveller Asia-Pacific reader awards, the results of which you can read in this issue. Each year we ask you, our readers, to nominate the companies who have most impressed you over the previous 12 months. Some winners change each year, while some remain the same, testament to the consistency of their product and service. It must be a difficult balancing act, ensuring you continue to offer what your customers want, day in and day out, yet at the same time moving with shifting markets and demographics to ensure you never look outdated and continue to attract new generations of customers. For those who succeed in this, for another year, we salute you.

The second reason to celebrate is that airlines, hotels and travel companies continue to innovate and that we, as regular travellers, benefit from these innovations. Whether it is new aircraft, new seating on board or new routes, airlines are (in general) in competitive markets and not making huge amounts of money, yet continue to spend money, giving customers new and improved experiences. Hotels have also changed, and not just at the top end of the market. Budget hotels now have a proper design ethic, as well as some great locations in the centre of cities suitable for all budgets, and we will be focusing on some of these in continuing issues.

Finally, we should celebrate because we now have opportunities that were impossible for earlier generations. We are more well travelled than ever before, and trends indicate this will continue. Challenges remain, not least the effect of all this travel on the environment, but we may well look back in 20 or 30 years at this time as a golden age of travel. I hope we’re all around then to see if that was true. Tom Otley Editorial director