This award is designed to recognise and reward providers of services such as meals, sea crossings, event tickets and accommodation. We were looking for those suppliers who have made outstanding efforts to accommodate, attract, and welcome coaches, their drivers and their passengers in four sectors:

• Hotels and Catering
• Theatre and Venue Ticketing
• Tour Wholesaling
• Sea Transport/Water Crossing

This page covers the first of these, looking at Hotels and Catering. In addition, the judges selected an overall winner, named Coach Passenger Service Provider of the Year.

Winners: Best Western Hotels GB

Best Western is the largest independent chain of 3 and 4 star hotels in Great Britain, with three distinct brands for different market segments.

The company is in the process of launching a coach charter, specifically aimed at the group travel market, which they claim will be unique to the industry.

Best Western also runs a meal-stop programme across its portfolio of hotels which aims to provide wholesome meals on the move to both tours and the day trip market alike.

The judges felt that the company’s existing and planned strategy for the coach market is commendable.

Runner Up: Hilton Worldwide

Hilton Worldwide is one of the largest hospitality companies in the world, with ten brands, more than 3,900 hotels and 140,000 staff across 90 countries.

Most of the Hilton hotels around the UK have free coach parking facilities and the drivers enjoy exactly the same meals and standards of service as their passengers.

There is now a dedicated Account Manager in the UK to ensure the Hilton brand is marketed to the coach industry, which the judges felt was a real commitment to the sector.

Highly Commended

Marriott Hotels UK

Marriott has a strong presence in the UK, with five distinct brands. In the last 83 years Marriott has grown to be a truly global company with over 3,000 hotels worldwide and over 150,000 employees.

Marriott Hotels UK Limited has grown its Travel Trade segment to an account portfolio worth £11million, £4.5 million of which is from UK domestic coach travel, making the company a worthy finalist in the opinion of the judges.

Who could be nominated?

This category was open to:

• hotels and hotel chains
• restaurants and restaurant chains

… and by whom

Coach operators were asked to nominate providers of services they have admired during the last 12 months.

They were asked to explain why they think the nominated service provider deserves this award – this will cover such matters as:

• the ease of booking
• the flexibility and quality of customer service during the enquiry and booking stages
• the welcome provided on the ground to
  • the coach
  • the passengers
  • the driver