Monday, 20 January saw industry colleagues gather at the Grosvenor House Hotel on London’s Park Lane for the 25th annual Business Travel Awards, where the winners from 22 categories were announced.
The exclusive event began with a champagne reception followed by a three-course gala dinner and entertainment. This year’s event was hosted by comedian and TV presenter Dara O Briain and featured an opening musical routine by the Percussion Theatre Marching Band.
This year’s event was supported by headline sponsor American Express Global Business Travel, as well as sponsors AirPlus International, Addison Lee Group, Air Astana, All Nippon Airways (ANA), TAS Global (The Apartment Service), Barclaycard, CMAC Group, Corporate Travel Management (CTM), Easyjet, Edyn, Fairfly, FCM Travel Solutions, Flybe, GroundScope, HRS, Oakwood, Travelodge and Travelport.
London North Eastern Railway (LNER) and Click Travel each took home two awards this year, with LNER winning Best Corporate Social Responsibility Programme and Best Sales Account Management Team, while Click Travel was named Best TMC (More than £200m UK annual sales) and Best Self-Booking Tool.
Premier Inn, Yotel and Pullman Hotels & Resorts were named Best Budget, Midscale and Upscale Hotel Brand, respectively, and BridgeStreet took home the trophy for Best Serviced Apartment Provider.
Meanwhile, easyJet was named Best Short-Haul Airline for the fourth year in a row and Delta Air Lines won Best Long-Haul Airline. But ANA took home the gong for Business Airline of the Year.
This year’s Rising Star of the Year award went to Margarita Berga, strategic account manager at Capita Travel and Events, while the Travel Team of the Year is RSA Insurance plc and FCM Travel Solutions. The Travel Buyer of the Year for 2020 is Natalie Gardner, global travel manager at Electronic Arts.
The Business Travel Awards once again saw a record number of entries across all 22 categories, with an independent panel of travel managers choosing both the shortlist and the winners. The annual event is known as “the Oscars of the business travel industry”, with more than 1,200 guests attending the 2020 ceremony.
Here is the full list of winners:
Best Budget Hotel Brand
Premier Inn
Best Midscale Hotel Brand
YOTEL
Best Upscale Hotel Brand
Pullman Hotels & Resorts
Best Serviced Apartment Provider
BridgeStreet
Best Corporate Social Responsibility Programme
LNER
Best Ground Transportation Company
Brunel, a Europcar Company
Best Car Rental Company
Enterprise/National
Best Corporate Payment Provider
AirPlus International
Best Rail Operator
TransPennine Express
Best Short-Haul Airline
easyJet
Best Long-Haul Airline
Delta Air Lines
Business Airline of the Year
All Nippon Airways
Best Specialist Business Travel Service
Yapta – Automated Re-Booking Services
Highly Commended: VDash – Digital visa platform and services
Best New Travel Technology Product
Sixt – SixtONE App
Highly Commended: PredictX – The Story
Best Sales Account Management Team
LNER
Best Travel Management Company (Less than £50m UK annual sales)
Blue Cube Travel
Best Travel Management Company (£50-£200m UK annual sales)
Wings Travel Management
Best Travel Management Company (More than £200m UK annual sales)
Click Travel Ltd
Best Self-Booking Tool
Click Travel Platform
Rising Star of the Year
Margarita Berga, Strategic Account Manager, Capita Travel and Events
Travel Buyer of the Year
Natalie Gardner, Global Travel Manager, Electronic Arts
Highly Commended: Claire Marsden, Principal Global Category Manager, Vodafone Procurement Company
Travel Team of the Year
RSA Insurance plc and FCM Travel Solutions