I hope the weather this winter has not caused too much disruption of your travel plans. Some very difficult days of snow and deep freeze nearly shut down travel in the eastern United States. We were fortunate to hold our Business Travel Symposium the week before a near-record snowstorm and frigid weather hit Philadelphia. Many thanks to our sponsors, IHG Business Edge and TAP Air Portugal, for making the event a success and adding to the panel discussion.

Make sure you review the recap article on page 34 of the GT Tested Reader Survey awards gala, which took place Dec. 17 at Loews Coral Gables Hotel. This wonderful event celebrated the best in travel including airlines, destinations, hotels and wines. Acceptees flew in from the United States and all over the world, with the farthest-located attendees coming from Serbia and Korea. The winners represent the travel companies you selected as best, so join me in congratulating them and celebrating their achievements.

Next up, we will hold our Leisure Lifestyle Awards for the second consecutive year at InterContinental Miami on April 20. We have some new winners in store for you this year along with perennial favorites. Please join us to celebrate the best in leisure travel as we honor the cruise lines, destinations and resorts that take great care of travelers.

Golfing at The Island Golf Club in Ireland © Francis X. Gallagher

Please enjoy the last in my series of golf reviews from Ireland. Over the past six months I covered all the courses we played including Royal County Down, Royal Portrush, Baltray and Royal Dublin, ending with The Island Golf Club in this issue. As I mentioned in each review, we were blessed with beautifully clear and sunny weather the entire trip — or as they say in Ireland, “bright” and “grand.” If you’d like to plan a golf trip to Ireland, I recommend connecting with Conn Connolly, owner of Real Irish Golf, who will build an itinerary to include tee times, caddies, drivers and hotels. Conn makes the trip seamless from pick-up at the airport to departure.

This year we return to Kiawah Island for our annual golf trip. We went for years to Myrtle Beach but found the quality of the accommodations, courses and restaurants fell below our standards. I will have much more to report in the next issue, which will feature all the Leisure Lifestyle Award winners.