Reader poll: And your winners are..

TOP CONFERENCE DESTINATION
With the exception of London, which holds on to the number one spot as top conference destination for the fourth year running - with three times as many votes as its nearest rival - the 2008 top five looks completely different to the 2007 list. Birmingham, Athens and Edinburgh have dropped out of the top five altogether, while Dubai has fallen from third place to joint fifth with Berlin. Barcelona, previously a high-flier in the top incentive destination rankings, storms into second, proving it's a strong all-round option. Manchester, which continues to invest heavily in its conference infrastructure and played host to the Labour Party this year, moves into the number three spot. Meanwhile, Las Vegas, with its 136,000 hotel rooms and 900,000m2 of convention and meeting space, creeps in at four.

TOP CONFERENCE DESTINATION

1. London
2. Barcelona
3. Manchester
4. Las Vegas
5. Berlin/Dubai

TOP INCENTIVE DESTINATION
From dune bashing and sunset Arabian dinners in the desert, to sailing and indoor skiing at the Ski Dome, Dubai is not short on incentive options, helping it to move from second place to the top this year. And the recent opening of Atlantis, The Palm with its water theme park and fine dining outlets, not to mention the host of other developments taking place in the emirate, should help keep it riding high for some time. However, 2012 Olympics host city London is snapping at Dubai's heels, taking second place, up from third last year. A new entry into the top five is South Africa, which takes third place, with Cape Town in particular mentioned by a number of readers. Barcelona climbs from fifth place to fourth, with New York dropping from the fourth spot to share fifth place with Las Vegas.

TOP INCENTIVE DESTINATION
1. Dubai
2. London
3. South Africa
4. Barcelona
5. New York/Las Vegas

TOP UK INCENTIVE HOTEL
No change at the top with Chewton Glen the clear winner. The luxury country-house hotel in Hampshire received more than five times as many votes as its nearest competitors. Gleneagles, number three in 2007, overtook The Grove to claim the second spot. Both properties have hosted high-profile client events recently, with Google choosing The Grove for its Zeitgeist conference, while wealth management firm St James's Place chose Gleneagles, which boosted its incentive offer with the launch of an £8m spa in March last year. The luxurious Four Seasons Hampshire held on to fourth place for the third year running, while Celtic Manor moves into fifth.

TOP UK INCENTIVE HOTEL
1. Chewton Glen
2. Gleneagles
3. The Grove
4. Four Seasons Hampshire
5. Celtic Manor

TOP UK CONFERENCE HOTEL
When it comes to your favourite conference venue at home, Celtic Manor takes top spot again after reclaiming its crown from The Grove in 2007. The Welsh resort offers both a four- and five-star hotel, championship golf courses - it is hosting the Ryder Cup in 2010 - and event space capable of hosting two to 1,500 delegates. The Grove slipped to third place, with the Hilton London Metropole, which can accommodate up to 3,000 delegates for events, moving into second spot. Other new entries to the top five were Rocco Forte's The Lowry in Manchester, which snuck in at number four, and London's Millennium Gloucester in fifth place.

TOP UK CONFERENCE HOTEL
1. Celtic Manor
2. Hilton London Metropole
3. The Grove
4. The Lowry
5. Millennium Gloucester London

TOP OVERSEAS INCENTIVE HOTEL
With Dubai claiming top incentive destination, it's no surprise that the two top overseas incentive hotels are based in the emirate. The iconic all-suite Burj al Arab, billed as the world's only seven-star hotel, climbs from second to the number one spot, while the Madinat Jumeirah jumps from fourth to second, which it shares with Hotel Arts Barcelona. Owned by Ritz-Carlton, the contemporary Hotel Arts offers stunning views over the Med, particularly from its luxury spa on the 42nd and 43rd floors. The Bellagio in Las Vegas and Mount Nelson hotel in Cape Town were both popular choices, while the Four Seasons chain saw a number of properties nominated, including the new Four Seasons Bosphorus in Istanbul, which opened last summer. Last year's number one property, The Hilton Cavalieri, dropped out of the top five altogether.

TOP OVERSEAS CONFERENCE HOTEL
The Hotel Arts, Barcelona held on to first place as best overseas conference hotel for the third year. The Madinat Jumeirah, also voted one of your top overseas incentive hotels, made its first appearance in the top five this year, claiming second place and replacing Jumeirah Group's Burj al Arab and Jumeirah Beach hotels. Designed to resemble an ancient Arabian citadel, the Madinat Jumeirah offers two hotels and a host of bars and dining options. Three Las Vegas hotels share fourth place: The Wynn, The Venetian and The Bellagio, while Disneyland Resort Paris, which has spent the past couple of years beefing up its C&I facilities, also received a strong share of the vote.

TOP UK PURPOSE-BUILT VENUE
It's all change in this category, with London venues dominating the top five. Excel London, which was bought by the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Company (ADNEC) last May and is planning a major expansion of its facilities, is number one, but only just beating the hugely successful O2, which came in second. The Barbican moves into the top five at number three, while last year's number one, the ICC Birmingham, slipped to fourth place, which it shares with yet another London venue, the QEII Conference Centre, which also came fourth last year. Just outside the top five, was the £146m ACC Liverpool, which opened at the beginning of 2008.

TOP INTERNATIONAL PURPOSE-BUILT VENUE
2007's most popular international purpose built venue, Grimaldi Forum slipped to third this year, making way for venues in two of Europe's most popular C&I destinations: Barcelona and Berlin. The Barcelona International Convention Center (CCIB) jumped into first place, closely followed by the stunning Frank-Gehry designed Axica Berlin, which claims the second spot. Travelling slightly further afield, the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre shared fourth with the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre, which has a number of event spaces including the 7,703m2 Sheikh Rashid Hall, 30 meeting rooms and a ballroom for up to 600.

TOP DMC
It was all change in the DMC category again in 2008, with big moves at the top. Vista Events, which topped the poll in 2007, dropped from the top five, while Destinations Unlimited, which shared second place in 2007, jumped to number one. It was followed in second place by Allied Europe, which has offices in the UK and across the Continent. South African DMC Green Route, which shared second place last year, claimed third place to itself this year, and the top five was completed with Ovation in fourth place, and Arabian Adventures in the number five spot.

BEST UK VENUE COMMITTED TO SUSTAINABILITY
This new category was introduced in 2007 to recognise venues most committed to sustainability, and Excel London tops the poll again. The Sheepdrove Eco Conference Centre took second place. Used regularly by the likes of Friends of the Earth, EON, Innocent, Landrover and Vodafone, Sheepdrove claims to be one of the world's greenest conference facilities and is capable of holding a variety of events. Cornwall's Eden Project took third place.

BEST UK VENUE FOR CATERING
Its regular tasting evenings for clients always draw in the crowds, so it's no surprise that The Brewery topped the poll for best UK venue for catering. Executive chef Erling Rugsten's focus on fresh seasonal produce, wellbeing and nutritional balance has helped the City-based venue hold onto the top spot for a second year running. Raymond Blanc's double Michelin-starred restaurant Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons also scored highly in this category, claiming second, as did top incentive hotel Chewton Glen.

BEST UK VENUE FOR SERVICE STANDARDS
The Brewery was also in the top five for best UK venue for service standards. However, it was knocked off the top spot into second by Rocco Forte's The Lowry, Manchester, which clearly impressed key players across the UK C&I industry when it hosted the Eventia Summer Conference in July. The third, fourth and fifth spots were taken by three old favourites: The Four Seasons Hampshire, Gleneagles, and Chewton Glen, respectively.

BEST TRANSPORT PROVIDER
Whether it was the Heathrow T5 debacle or some other reason, British Airways appears to have fallen out of favour with UK C&I buyers in 2008, dropping from the top spot to fourth. BA's loss was Virgin Atlantic's gain - it added new routes in the US, including Washington and Orlando in 2008, as well as increasing flights to destinations such as Hong Kong, and claimed top spot. Despite the fire in the tunnel, which has affected services since September, the new high speed Eurostar has proved popular, taking it to second place. Middle East carrier Emirates came a close third, followed by BA in fourth and the Orient Express in fifth.

COMPETITION WINNER IS VEGAS BOUND...
Chris Taylor of Indeprod is this year's lucky winner and will be flying
with Virgin Atlantic for a four-night stay in the entertainment capital
of the world, Las Vegas, courtesy of the Las Vegas Convention and
Visitors Authority and The Palazzo. On arrival he'll check in to The
Palazzo, the newest luxury resort in the heart of the Las Vegas Strip,
with shopping, dining and entertainment on two levels. He'll be able to
choose from more than 15 restaurants, before hitting the world-class
nightspots