2012 A Record Year For Best Western International Honors And Awards Including A Record 25 HSMAI Adrian Awards

PHOENIX, Jan. 22, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Best Western International, THE WORLD'S BIGGEST HOTEL FAMILY®, had a banner year for travel accolades as the chain received dozens of prestigious industry awards including 25 HSMAI Adrian Awards, 17 Travel Weekly Magellan Awards, a Silver REGGIE®, hotel partner of the year from the American Automobile Association (AAA) and partner of the year from the Canadian Automobile Association (CAA). This is in addition to the 1,252 hotels who received the TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence honor.

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"Inherit to Best Western's commitment to provide superior customer care to our guests, is our team's commitment to deliver industry-leading support to our hotels and winning an unprecedented number of industry awards in 2012 helps validate our great efforts to achieve this," said Best Western President and CEO David Kong. "These awards also remind our hotel owners that with a great corporate team behind them they can focus on the guests and providing them with the best possible stay."

The global hotel brand was recognized in 2012 with more than 75 awards and highlights including:

Partnerships

• AAA Hotel Partner of the Year Award for the fourth straight year, as well as AAA Best in Marketing and AAA Best in Sales Support awards.
• CAA Partner of the Year for the second straight year.
• Best Western's Billy Bos, senior manager of worldwide sales, was honored as the Global Business Travel Association's (GBTA) Allied Award winner for his contributions to the organization.

Marketing

• 25 HSMAI Adrian awards, including 14 gold for excellence in advertising, public relations and digital marketing.
• 17 Travel Weekly Magellan Awards, including 11 gold, for outstanding advertising, public relations and marketing efforts in the travel industry.
• A Silver REGGIE® Award for the Indie Films campaign.
• Media Post OMMA Award in the Online Advertising Creativity for our Indie Films.
• 2 Mega Awards from the Airline Information organization, including Loyalty Campaign of the Year and Social Media Campaign of the Year, in the travel industry.

Guest Satisfaction

• #1 brand that delights the customer in the mid-scale hotel brand category according to the Brand Keys/CLEI 2012 consumer survey.
• #2 in guest satisfaction as determined by J.D. Power and Associates for the mid-scale full service segment.
• 1,252 Best Western hotels around the world received the TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence honoring hospitality excellence.

Online/Social Media

• Compuware Best of the Web Gold Award for hotel website response time, availability and consistency as well as the Last Mile Leader Award – prior to the brand's launch of the all-new bestwestern.com this fall.
• #2 in online brand health in the hotel industry as ranked by Heardable.
• HOTELS magazine Social Hotel Award in the Best Facebook Promotion category for its "Be a Travel Hero" promotion.

Education & Training

• David Kong received the AH&LA Arthur Landstreet Award for outstanding achievements in education and training.
• A Silver Brandon Hall Group Excellence in Learning Award for our I Care® 2 training program.

Property

• Smith Travel Research Best Performing Upper Midscale Hotel recognition went to BEST WESTERN PLUS Beach Resort Hotel
• Smith Travel Research Best Performing Midscale Hotel recognition went to BEST WESTERN King Charles Inn
• AH&LA Outstanding Lodging Employee of the Year honors went to Cody Rentschler, a guest services representative from the BEST WESTERN PLUS Savannah Historic District hotel.

International

• TTG Asia Best Mid-range Hotel Brand for the sixth consecutive year as well as Best Marketing and Relationship Effort of the Year.
• Best Western Europe won its fifth ARC Europe Show Your Card Award for its partnership with European automobile clubs.
• Best Western India won Most Outstanding Hotel Chain at the Travel and Hospitality Awards.
• Golden Horse Awards from China Hotels Magazine for Best Development Potential.
• Best hotel chain in Poland by Hotelarz magazine.
• Best Western's Glenn de Souza, vice president of international operations in Asia, was named to the Hotelier Middle East Power 50 most influential hotel professionals.

Best Western International, Inc., headquartered in Phoenix, Ariz., is a privately held hotel brand made up of more than 4,000* BEST WESTERN®, BEST WESTERN PLUS® and BEST WESTERN PREMIER® hotels in more than 100* countries and territories worldwide. Now celebrating 67 years of hospitality, Best Western welcomes hundreds of thousands of guests nightly. Best Western provides its hoteliers with global operational, sales, marketing and promotional support, and online and mobile booking capabilities. More than 15 million travelers are members of the brand's award-winning loyalty program Best Western Rewards®, one of the few programs in which members earn points that never expire and can be redeemed at any Best Western hotel worldwide. The brand's partnerships with AAA/CAA, racecar driver Michael Waltrip, and Harley-Davidson® provide travelers with exciting ways to interact with the brand. In 2012, Best Western won a record number of awards, including AAA's Hotel Partner of the Year, CAA's Partner of the Year and Compuware's Best of the Web Gold awards.

For more information or to make a reservation, please www.bestwestern.com.

*Numbers are approximate and may fluctuate. 

SOURCE Best Western International