Your Choice... Your Awards

As the entire country is gearing up for the polls that look to be coming somewhere in mid-April this year amidst plenty of speculation, the feBusiness Traveller has beaten everyone to it and has announced its polls immediately with the closing date being February 1, 2004. The polls in question here are also nationwide and will be instrumental in deciding the winners of the feBusiness Traveller Awards to be held on February 6, 2004 at a gala event in conjunction with World Travel India (WTI 2004 from 5th to 8th February) in Mumbai, which is slated to be India's largest and first truly international travel and tourism trade expo. Having closely followed business travel trends in the country, the feBusiness Traveller recognises that we have just closed out 2003 as one of the most heartening years for travel that India has seen in the recent past with business travel registering a significant growth.

We have also seen a never-before maturity and professionalism that has pervaded this segment, both from the point of view of the business traveller and the travel service provider. While business travel has come to be recognised as the true power centre of the travel economy in various parts of the world, India is yet to truly wake up to its potential and the impact that it could have on the future of the travel economy of this country. One way of facilitating this is by recognising and giving it the much required impetus by instituting awards that reward outstanding performance and service in this sector. Similar to various international publications that service the business travel segment worldwide, feBusiness Traveller has also seen it fit to institute these awards at a time when the entire world (most international airlines, global hotel chains and MICE destinations) is targeting the Indian corporate and individual traveller. Based on the format of popular choice awards, the polling is open to all our readers across the country, the winners of which will be decided by a process of data validation and tabulation by Ernst & Young.

As business travellers we have all at various times had our share of ups and downs, great experiences and grievances, but there is always that very, very special preference that we normally harbour for a particular airline, chain of hotels or favourite business destination. These awards are an ideal platform to share those preferences, likes and dislikes and reward those who truly deserve to be recognised as the outstanding performers in the business travel segment for the year 2003. I look forward to your active participation in this polling process to make these awards truly representative of your choice. As we kick off the year 2004 with the feBusiness Traveller Awards, here’s hoping that the new year brings even better tidings for business travel...