The 8 Most Trusted Travel Brands In The U.S.

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If you putter around the internet long enough, you’ll find survey after survey of “the best” of just about everything. Of course, travel enthusiasts are always interested in how their favorite brands of hotels are doing, although other aspects of travel are often sought after, as are restaurants, since, even when you’re on vacation, ya gotta eat, right?

With that in mind, for the first time, Newsweek, in collaboration with market research partner Statista (a Germany-based research company. They’ve been around since 2007), ranked America’s Most Trusted Companies in 22 industries:

• Aerospace & defense
• Appliances & electronics
• Automotive & components
• Banks
• Construction
• Consulting & professional services
• Consumer goods
• Energy & utilities
• Financial services
• Food & beverage
• Health care & life sciences
• Insurances
• Machines & industrial equipment
• Materials & chemicals
• Media & entertainment
• Real estate & housing
• Retail
• Software & telecommunications
• Technology hardware
• Textiles, clothing & luxury goods
• Transport, logistics & packaging
• Travel, dining & leisure

Here’s how they came up with their rankings:

We looked at publicly traded U.S. corporations in 22 industries with $500 million or more in annual revenues and then surveyed 50,000 U.S. residents. Respondents were asked about companies they knew well and were, asked among other things, if they believed individual companies treated their customers fairly, treated their employees fairly and would be good long-term investments. The result is a list of 400 companies Americans trust the most, ranked by industry. We’ve also noted the state where each is based.

Of course, with such a broad topic such as “travel, dining and leisure,” not all of the 17 “winners” were actually in the travel business – some were restaurants, and non-travel entities such as movie theater chains and gaming were in the mix.

Here’s the list:

17. Wynn Resorts
16. Bluegreen Vacations (timeshare)
15. Texas Roadhouse (restaurant brand)
14. AMC entertainment (movie theater)
13. Penn National Gaming (gaming)
12. TravelCenters of America (truck stop)
11. Choice Hotels International
10. The Cheesecake Factory (restaurant brand)
9. Hyatt Hotels
8. Regis Corporation (hair salon)
7. Brinker International (restaurant conglomerate)
6. Caesars Entertainment
5. Hilton Worldwide
4. Bloomin’ Brands (restaurant conglomerate)
3. Starbucks (restaurant brand)
2. Liberty Tripadvisor
1. Marriott International

So of the top 17, the ones that were actually “travel” were 4 hotel chains, 2 casino chains, an online travel agency and a timeshare.

Our take on this

Frankly, I think they did a disservice to every single category by making them too broad. For example, travel, dining & leisure could easily have been 3 separate categories. And how did a HAIR SALON get included in the mix??? Getting your hair cut is a leisure activity? No, it’s grooming.

And wait…airlines are listed under transport? (by the way, of the 22 winners in that category, Alaska Air was #11, Delta Air Lines was #19, and #22 was…FRONTIER AIRLINES?!?!?! For being trustworthy? Have they not ever heard of the I Hate Frontier Airlines group on Facebook?) Not travel?

Also, although some of the categories would be ones that almost everyone would know, how many people of their random sample would be familiar enough with, say, construction, consulting & professional services, or aerospace & defense, to vote on them? Would anyone outside the state of Texas know about Magnolia Oil & Gas? And really, how many people in the U.S. are going to have a working knowledge of Century Aluminum, American Tower, or Unifi? How equitable is it when you have those brands getting how many fewer votes than, say, Starbucks, because only niche groups of people would be familiar with them?

I was already skeptical when they referred to their ranking as the “first annual.” There’s no such thing as “first annual” – it can’t be an annual event until it’s already happened at least one other time. “First ever?” Yes. “Inaugural?” Absolutely. “First annual?” Nope.

Well, it is what it is. But I take this one with a grain of salt.

Click here to see their full rankings.

Feature Photo: Public Domain

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