Top 50 - The World's Best Hotels 2014

according to Travel + Leisure’s 19th Annual World’s Best Award

1.     Triple Creek Ranch, Darby, Montana

2.     Navana Springs, La Fortuna, Costa Rica

3.     Four Season Hotel Gresham Palace, Budapest

4.     Southern Ocean Lodge, Kangaroo Island, Australia

5.     Ocean House, Watch Hill, Rhode Island

6.     The Langham. Chicago

7.     Singita Sabi Sand Kruger National Park Area, South Africa

8.     Londolozi Game Reserve, Kruger National Park Area, South Africa

9.     Oberoi Udaivilas, Udaipur, India

10.   Taj Lake Palace, Udaipur, India

11.   Four Season Hotel, Hongkong

12.   Lodge at Sea Island Golf Club, Georgia

13.   Te Peninsula, Bangkok

14.   Post Ranch Inn, Big Sur, California

15.   Capella Pedregal, Los Cabos, Mexico

How to Gain Competitive Advantage in the Restaurant Business

by Stan Mack

Te you will have trouble standing out from the crowd. Gaining a competitive edge requires a detailed analysis of the demographics of the surrounding area and the nature of existing competitors. And even if you are successful at first, new competitors could enter your market at any time to steal your clients. Don’t hesitate to adopt successful strategies from your competitors, but understand that directly competing with an entrenched rival is a bad idea for a beginning restaurateur.

Step 1

Find an area with few competitors that serve food similar to yours. Pizza places, for example, face enough competition from other types of restaurants without having to fight each other.

Step 2

Che restaurant industry is highly competitive. Unless you have a star chef or a novel cuisine, chances arhoose a highly visible location that has a suitable consumer base nearby. For example, don’t open a family restaurant in an area full of office complexes. A residential area with a high percentage of families with young children would offer more potential clients, especially if there are relatively few local restaurants currently serving that demographic.

Step 3

Analyze the local competition after you’ve chosen a location. Chances are any region you choose will have at least a few competitors who target the same consumers. Other restaurants are obvious rivals, but supermarkets, convenience stores and any other businesses that sell prepared food are also competitors.

Step 4

Identify the strengths of each competitor. For example, a supermarket’s ready-to-eat meals are

The World's Best Airline Awards 2013

Ranking 1 to 20

The World Airline Awards are a primary benchmarking tool for Passenger Satisfaction levels of airlines throughout the world, delivering a unique survey format based on analysis of business and leisure travellers, across all cabin travel types (First Class, Business Class, Premium Economy Class and Economy class passengers).

Air travellers completed an online survey questionnaire about their experience with airlines on the ground and onboard, during a 10-month period. The survey measures passenger satisfaction across more than 40 key performance indicators of airline front-line product and service - including check-in, boarding, onboard seat comfort, cabin cleanliness, food, beverages, inflight entertainment and staff service. The Survey covered over 200 airlines, from the largest international airlines to smaller domestic carriers.

1	Emirates
2	Qatar Airways
3	Singapore Airlines
4	ANA All Nippon Airways
5	Asiana Airlines
6	Cathay Pacific Airways
7	Etihad Airways
8	Garuda Indonesia
9	Turkish Airlines
10	Qantas Airways
11	Lufthansa
12	EVA Air
13	Virgin Australia
14	Malaysia Airlines
15	Thai Airways
16	Swiss Int'l Air Lines
17	Korean Air
18	Air New Zealand
19	Hainan Airlines
20	Air Canada

The World's 50 Best Restaurants Award 2013

list from San Pellegrino

The World's 50 Best Restaurants list has been announced, and the big news is of course that Noma's three year reign as the number one restaurant in the world has come to an end. That title now goes to El Celler de Can Roca in Girona, Spain. Noma holds tight at second, while third goes to Massimo Bottura's Osteria Francescana.

World's 50 Best also announced they'll be doing Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants in September in Lima; more details on that can be found in a press release below.

1. El Celler de Can Roca, Girona, Catalonia, Spain 
2. Noma, Copenhagen 
3. Osteria Francescana, Modena, Italy 
4. Mugaritz, San Sebastián, Spain 
5. Eleven Madison Park, New York City 
6. D.O.M, Sao Paulo, Brazil 
7. Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, London 
8. Arzak, San Sebastián, Spain 
9. Steirereck Restaurant, Vienna, Austria 
10. Vendôme, Bergisch Gladbach, Germany