TRAVEL MAGAZINE VOTES HONG KONG AS ‘ASIA’S BEST CITY’ FOR CONSECUTIVE YEAR

For the second consecutive year, Hong Kong has been named “Asia’s Best City” in the US consumer travel magazine Travel + Leisure’s annual World’s Best Awards readers’ survey.

Hong Kong Tourism Board Executive Director Ms Clara Chong said the results of the reader poll was “most gratifying and encouraging”.

This year’s winners were announced in the August 2001 issue, which reveals Travel + Leisure readers’ favourite cities, hotels, islands, tour operators, airlines, car rental companies, cruise lines and spas. Hong Kong was voted the best city in Asia two years running and was the only city in Asia in the Top 10 list.

Of Hong Kong sights, readers said there was always a new skyscraper to stare at ... but with steep mountains and 23 country parks much of Hong Kong does not feel urban at all. One can “get a new perspective on the city by hiking the MacLehose Trail”.

The City of Life also ranked No 1 in the survey for shopping and presented very good value for money. The magazine suggests readers hook up with the concierge for introductions to the best tailors and to explore Hollywood Road for antiques, Stanley Market for gifts and the Pedder Building in Central for affordable clothes.

Having received prominence in the magazine’s World’s Best Service poll in the June issue, Hong Kong also fared well in the Top 25 Hotels by region. The Peninsula, the Mandarin Oriental, Hotel Inter-Continental (formerly The Regent), the Grand Hyatt and the Island Shangri-La were placed 4th, 6th, 7th, 12th and 18th respectively.

Cathay Pacific Airways was second in the Top 10 Foreign Airlines, with 73.6 points, the rating based on comfort and service, on-time record and food.

The highest ranking cities in other regions were Sydney (Australia, New Zealand, South Pacific), Florence (Europe), Jerusalem (Africa and the Middle East) and Buenos Aires (Mexico and South and Central America) and New York (United States). Florence was selected the World’s Best City Overall.

Travel + Leisure magazine is published by the American Express Publishing Corporation, a subsidiary of the American Express Company, managed by Time Inc.



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[1] The Hong Kong Tourism Board was formerly known as the Hong Kong Tourist Association (HKTA). The change took effect from 1 April 2001 and reflects a change to the tourism body’s constitutional structure. Its primary responsibilities for marketing and promoting Hong Kong as a destination worldwide, and for providing visitors with assistance when they arrive, remain unchanged.