Thailand’s capital Bangkok has been named the world’s best city by influential US travel magazine Travel + Leisure.
Announced as part of its World’s Best 2011 Awards issue to be published July 22, the prestigious title was awarded based on the votes of thousands of Travel + Leisure readers who voted for cities around the world.
It is the second year in a row that Bangkok has been named in the top spot, despite a period of civil unrest last year which did considerable damage to Thailand’s international reputation as a tourism haven.
A report released last week by the French airports group Aeroports de Paris has suggested that Zurich’s airport boasts the highest customer satisfaction in Europe.
Nearly 90 percent of travelers said that they were satisfied or very satisfied with their travel experience through Zurich International in Switzerland, by far the highest score of the 16 airports surveyed by BVA on behalf of Aeroports de Paris.
In second place, with 87 percent, was Paris Orly, the smaller of the French capital’s airports, while Schiphol in Amsterdam took third place with 86 percent.
Airline review site Skytrax has named the best airlines of the year – based on surveys of passengers – at the Paris Air Show.
Qatar Airways beat Singapore Airlines to first place in the 2011 rankings, rising from third place, while Asiana dropped from the top of the table to take third place.
Cathay Pacific won fourth place in the overall rankings, while Thai Airways took fifth and Etihad took sixth at the awards, which were announced June 22.
Lady Gaga, 25 years old, recently dethroned Oprah off the top of Forbes magazine‘s Most Powerful Celebrities list and now the pop star, with $90 million, has booted Beyoncé off the top spot on the annual Best-Paid Celebrities-Under-30 list.
In second, teen heartthrob singer Justin Bieber debuted on the strike-it-rich-quick list: the 17-year-old raked in $53 million.
Miami Heat basketball star LeBron James, 26, came in third with $48 million, though his team lost the NBA Finals on June 12 to the Dallas Mavericks.
InterContinental has retained its grip as the world’s largest hotel chain, according to the annual ranking of hotels by accommodation analyst MKG Hospitality.
The British company, which operates brands including Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaze and InterContinental, offers a whopping 647,161 rooms around the world, more than any other hotel chain despite growing slowly over the past year.
In second place in the listing released this week is Wyndham Hotels, which offers 612,735 rooms but is gaining quickly (adding 2.5% more rooms in the last year).
Denmark’s Noma restaurant was named best in the world for a second year running Monday in an international poll dominated by European establishments but with new entries from China, Peru and Russia.
The Copenhagen restaurant of chef Rene Redzepi was voted number one in the S.Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2011, a list compiled by more than 800 international restaurant industry experts for Britain’s Restaurant Magazine.
Noma hit the headlines last year when it deposed famed Spanish restaurant elBulli from the top spot it had held for four years. ElBulli was not included this year because it is closing later this year.
