Association Meetings announces the winners of its first annual Global Achievement Awards. We are proud to recognize the best of the best among international meeting and incentive suplliers and destinations as chosen by our readers.
This year's winners are: Ten Best International Cities * Barcelona
* Singapore
* Budapest
* Sydney
* London
* Tokyo
* Monte Carlo
* Vancouver
* Paris
* Vienna
Ten Best International Hotels * Acapulco Princess, Acapulco, Mexico
* Banff Springs Hotel, Alberta, Canada
* Four Seasons Hotel, The Ritz, Lisbon, Portugal
* The Gleneagles Hotel, Perthshire, Scotland
* Grand Hyatt Bali, Indonesia
* Stats: 62.361.77.1234
* Fax: 62.361.77.2038
* Mr. Wisnuadji, associate director of convention services
* e-mail: gh-bali%2076747@mcimail.com
* What Are We? an oceanfront resort patterned after Balinese water palaces
* 750 guest rooms
* 39 suites and two villas
* all rooms have air conditioning, humidity control, and balconies
* six swimming pools
* fitness and health center
* Camp Nusa for children
* five multi-ethnic restaurants
* Where To Meet? 14 meeting rooms
* capacity of largest: 540 banquet-style
* ideal group size: 350 rooms
* business center
* What's Cool? Pasar Senggol--an on-site Balinese Night Market with cultural performances and an expansive buffet
* Grand Hyatt Hong Kong, China
* Half Moon Golf, Tennis & Beach Club, Montego Bay, Jamaica
* Stats: 800.626.0592
* 876.953.2211
* Fax: 876.953.2731
* Myrtle Dwyer, executive assistant manager
* e-mail: moondat@infochan.com
* What Are We? deluxe oceanfront resort
* 239 guest rooms
* 179 suites
* Robert Trent Jones-designed golf course
* 13 tennis courts
* seven restaurants
* What's New? new lobby
* two new restaurants
* new conference center slated for completion in February, 1999
* Where To Meet? 14 meeting rooms
* capacity of largest, banquet-style: 320
* ideal group size: 250 rooms
* What's Cool? The resort's Royal Villas come with private pool, maid, cook, butler, and laundry service.
* Hotel de Paris, Monte Carlo, Monaco
* London Hilton on Park Lane, London, England
* Shangri-La Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand
Ten Best International Convention & Exhibition Centers * Acropolis, Palais Des Congres & Des Expositions, Nice, France
* Adelaide Convention Centre, Adelaide, Australia
* Stats: 61.8.8212.4099
* Fax: 61.8.8212.5101
* Sue Hocking, director of sales and marketing
* e-mail: sales@adelaidecc.com.au
* In the U.S.: Boyd W. Christenson, business development director, North America
* 651.690.9499
* Fax: 651.698.4363
* e-mail: bwchris@ix.netcom.com
* What Are We? multi-purpose convention center, exhibition hall, and banquet atrium
* six miles from Adelaide Airport
* located in central business district
* within walking distance to convention hotels, which have a total of 2,600 guest rooms
* What's New? new 75,320-square-foot addition due for completion in June, 2001, which will double current capacity
* Where To Meet? one exhibit hall
* 32,280 square feet of exhibit space
* five plenary halls, the largest of which seats 3,500 people theater-style or 1,800 banquet-style
* 11 meeting/breakout rooms
* What's Available? staging equipment
* telecommunications and audiovisual equipment
* in-house security
* doorman
* receptionist
* South Australian food and wines
* What's Cool? Plenary Hall's tiered seating sections can be raised to expose a versatile flat floor space
* exhibition hall has broad windows that fill the room with natural light.
* Amsterdam RAI, International Exhibition and Congress Centre, Amsterdam, Netherlands
* Austria Center Vienna, Vienna, Austria
* Cancun Convention Center, Cancun, Mexico
* Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Hong Kong, China
* Metro Toronto Convention Centre, Toronto, Canada
* Stats: 416.585.8241
* Fax: 416.585.8198
* Brenda Harrison, director of sales
* e-mail: bharrison@mtccc.com
* What Are We? three-story convention center
* 12 miles from Pearson International Airport
* central downtown location
* within walking distance of 12,000 first-class hotel rooms, entertainment venues,and restaurants
* What's New? recently completed expansion brought the convention center's total square footage to 778,000, which includes 70 meeting rooms, plus pre-function and registration space.
* Where To Meet? seven exhibit halls
* 460,000 square feet of exhibit space
* two ballrooms
* largest room, at 260,000 square feet, holds 4,780, banquet-style
* 1,330-seat, multi-purpose auditorium
* 70 meeting/breakout rooms
* complete communications services
* What's Available? audiovisual
* coat check
* show decoration
* electrical
* food and beverage
* cleaning
* banking
* staging
* customs broker
* What's Cool? underground walkways, which connect the center to more than seven miles of underground shopping, transportation, and the Royal York and Sheraton Centre hotels.
* Palais des Congres de Paris/Paris Conference Center, Paris, France
* Palexpo, Geneva, Switzerland
* Singapore International Convention & Exhibition Centre, Singapore
* Stats: 65.337.2888
* Hotline: 65.334.7077
* Fax: 65.431.2222
* Lai Chee Kiong, director of sales & marketing
* e-mail: sales@sicec.com
* What Are We? one of the largest convention centers in Asia
* 20 minutes from Changi International Airport
* integral part of Suntec City
* minutes from rapid transit system
* What's New? new in-house event production department
* Where To Meet? two exhibit halls
* 288,798 square feet of exhibit space
* three ballrooms
* largest room holds 6,000, banquet-style
* 26 meeting/breakout rooms
* What's Cool? SICEC has one of Asia's largest information screens, designed to give added exposure to exhibitors.
Ten Best International Airlines * Air Canada
* British Airways
* Air Jamaica
* Cathay Pacific Airways
* Air France
* Singapore Airlines
* Aer Lingus
* Swissair
* Air New Zealand
* Qantas Airways LTD.
* Stats: 800.227.4500
* What Are We? an airline based in Australia
* 99 planes in the fleet
* more than 18.6 million passengers per year
* serve 30 countries worldwide
* Where Do We Fly? 11 destinations in North America
* daily service from Los Angeles to Sydney and Auckland
* codeshare to and from New York, Miami, Dallas/Fort Worth, Boston, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Toronto, and Vancouver
* frequent flier partners with British Airways, American Airlines, Canadian, Alaska, Continental, and US Airways
* fly direct 17 times per week between L.A. and Sydney, seven times per week between L.A. and Auckland, and seven times per week between Honolulu and Sydney
* daily flights from Canada
* What's New? reconfigured aircraft to international fleet
* new sleeper seat recliners to six-foot/six-inch bed
* only airline with business-class seats with five-way, electronic adjustment
* ergonomically designed seats in economy class*
* What's Available for Groups? in Australia, dedicated group desk agents and group desk check-ins
* complimentary drinks and snacks on all flights
* What's Cool? The Wunala Dreaming--a Boeing 747-400 painted in an Aboriginal design, which depicts the story of journeys by spirit ancestors, in the form of kangaroos, across the Australian landscape. Wunala Dreaming operates scheduled services around the Qantas international network.
* Part of a two-year refit of the Qantas international fleet commenc-ing in June 1998; available on North American routes spring 1999