The Diners Club Magazin’s expert jury named Willi Bründlmayer Winemaker of the Year and bestowed the title of Visionary of the Year on the proprietor of the Bayerischer Hof, Innegrit Volkhardt. Irène Lejeune received the prize for Social Initiative of the Year prize for her “Herz für Herz – Stiftung für Leben” project. After the awards had been presented the editor of Diners Club Magazin, Dr. Hans Christian Meiser, gave an eloquent speech in honour of the winners: “We’re not looking for superstars and we won’t make any, but we constantly encounter people who lead extraordinary lives.”

The readers awarded the Hotel Adlon Kempinski the prize for Germany’s Hotel Suite of the Year, and the title of Hotel Group of the Year to The Ritz Carlton Hotel Company. The Castillo Hotel Son Vida was voted Europe’s Golf Resort of the Year. The title Off-road Car of the Year went to the Porsche Cayenne – a vehicle that, Meiser joked, would be perfect for exploring this year’s Holiday Destination of the Year, Switzerland’s Ticino region. Diners Club Magazin readers chose the MS Europa as best for travelling the seven seas, but if you would rather keep your feet on firm ground, why not enjoy a meal cooked by the man they chose as Chef of the Year, Claus-Peter Lumpp (of the Bareiss restaurant in Baiersbronn).