Ranking the best.

Now in its fourth year, our annual look at the Best of Latin America has gone through some changes over the years, but the biggest change so far you'll find in this edition. In years past, we have ranked business travel offerings around the region based on how many votes each received. This year, we instead asked our readers to rate on quality factors such as service, wine lists, business centers, location and the like.

The tops in each category tended to do well on each relevant factor; a low rating in one area could torpedo a property fast. There were minimum votes in each category. However, having a very large number of votes did not help if those voters gave a property mediocre marks. This was not a popularity contest.

The results surprise. The best business hotel in Brazil, for instance, is not in Silo Paulo, according to our readers, but in the resort area of Costa do Sauipe. The best business restaurant in Mexico is an Argentine steakhouse in Monterrey. The top two cruise lines serving the region, LATIN TRADE readers say, are two boutique lines that focus not on tables groaning with food and hours of Caribbean sun but on touring Ecuador's environmentally rich Galapagos Islands.

And the best business city in Latin America is, yes, Guayaquil. Clearly, people in Guayaquil took the survey and had good things to say about their own city. But the survey controls for automated answers and cheating, and there's no silly business going on here. Check out Guayaquil for yourself this year on business or pleasure, and if you disagree, we'll see how they fare next year.

P.S. One of the common excuses for the lack of women at the top of corporate ladders is the lack of talent coming from below. In this issue, we find and name 34 women across the region management recruiters say should be in charge within a decade. No more excuses. (Page 25)

Greg Brown

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