Destinations in Asia and river cruises in Europe are among the hottest new trends in travel as 2007 begins, while changes in passport regulations and a growing awareness of environmental issues may also affect where and how tourists enjoy their holidays this year.
Asia: Is Asia the new Europe?
China was No 1 on Lonely Planet's annual list of hot destinations for the new year, and China was also top for the country representing the best value for the dollar in a survey of members of the United States Tour Operators Association. The association picked South-east Asia as the hottest up-and-coming area for packaged travel, with the No 2 spot going to China, India and Croatia in a three-way tie.
"China and India are off the charts," said Sandi Hughes, vice-president of AAA Travel, the Automobile Association's travel services division.
The continued weakness of the dollar against the euro and the British pound may also be leading some American travellers "to look for alternate destinations", said Rick Garlick, director of strategic consulting for the Maritz Hospitality Research Group. "Places like Thailand and Singapore have gained a new appeal."
The first nine months of 2006 showed air travel to Asia by American citizens was up 7 percent over the same period in 2005, according to the US Commerce Department's Office of Travel and Tourism Industries, compared with a 4 percent growth in travel to Europe.
The United Kingdom, France, Italy and Germany remained among the top 10 overseas destinations for travel by US residents in 2005, which was the most recent full year for which data was available from the Commerce Department. But travel to Japan, No 7 on the top 10 list for 2005, was up 40 percent from 2004; travel to China, No 10 on the list, was up 21 percent; travel to No 12 Hong Kong was up 25 percent, and travel to No 15 India was up 33 percent.
River cruises: The new craze in European holidays?
River cruising. "You stop in villages, towns and vineyards along the way," said Bob Whitley, head of the United States Tour Operators Association. "You have access to inland areas of countries in the Baltics, France and Germany that the big ships can't get to. It's equivalent to an escorted tour without the unpacking."
He said the trend was big among tourists to China as well, with cruises on the Yangtze River.
Hughes, of AAA, said European river cruises were also more attractive to tourists than they used to be because some trips ban smoking and offered more international cuisine. And a ship with just 90 cabins is far more intimate than one with several thousand passengers, allowing guests to become friends.
Tom Armstrong, spokesman for Tauck World Discovery Tours, said sales for Tauck's 2007 European river cruises were 60 percent higher than where they were last year at this time. Tauck's trip, starting at $7 530 (R54 740) a person, double occupancy, tours the Rhine and the Danube and stops in nine countries (see http://www.tauck.com).
Save the world: Why not save the world while you're on holiday?
The Travel Industry Association's "Voice of the Traveller" survey last year found that 24 percent of travellers are interested in taking a volunteer or service-based holiday.
"People will pay their own way to travel to a place, then donate their time to anything ranging from rebuilding New Orleans after Katrina, to helping orphans and teaching English," said Travelocity's Ziff.
The American Hiking Society organises volunteers to fix up national parks, while groups like Global Volunteers and Cross-Cultural Solutions send volunteers to help communities around the world.
And don't forget eco-tourism. Garlick was surprised to find that a third of travellers had heard of environmentally correct holidays when asked about them in a recent internet-based survey.
"There's a lot more awareness than I suspected," he said. "Then we asked people who'd heard of them, 'Would you consider taking this type of holiday?' Two out of three said they would consider it."
Some travellers have started offsetting the carbon emissions from their flights or car trips by donating to organisations that preserve forests or support renewable sources of energy like solar power.
REI Adventures (http://www.reiadventures.com) recently announced that it would buy renewable energy credits to offset the carbon emissions from all of its 2007 tours.
Other travellers may choose to stay in an eco-lodge where food is grown locally and waste is recycled, or they can patronise ski resorts that have gone "green" by buying electricity from wind farms. The San Francisco Marriott has taken its recycling efforts full circle, serving wine from vintners who use compost made from the hotel's food scraps.
Spas: Soaking up some luxury
Last year, the Travel Industry Association's Voice of the Traveller survey found that 54 percent of travellers said they were interested in going to a spa or a place where they could relax and rejuvenate, and 28 percent said they were more interested in a spa holiday now than they were five years ago.
While you can find a day spa in just about any hotel, the newest spa trend for 2007, according to Travel + Leisure magazine, is a "longevity retreat", with a focus on medical testing and advice at a destination spa. Among the places offering wellness and healthcare, along with massages and soaks are Canyon Ranch, the California WellBeing Institute and the Centre for Life in Balance at Miraval in Arizona.
Hot destinations: Where should I go this year?
Lonely Planet markets its guides to travellers around the world, but its annual list of hotspots for the new year included a somewhat surprising choice of the US as No 2 (after China in the top spot). The US entry mentions Hawaii, New Orleans and New York City's Brooklyn, which was singled out for its arts, restaurants and neighbourhoods.
Next on the Lonely Planet list were Morocco, Argentina, Brazil, Turkey, Nicaragua, Spain and Greece, followed by Cuba, Mexico and India tying for 10th place.
Tourism travel to Cuba by US residents and citizens is banned by the US Department of the Treasury.
Frommer's, another top travel guidebook publishing company, offered a list of a dozen standout destinations for 2007, beginning with Krakow, Poland; followed by Tokyo; Minneapolis; Panama; Asheville, North Carolina; Ethiopia; Portland, Oregon; Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Islands; Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada; Glen Canyon, Utah; Zurich, Switzerland; and Portland, Maine. (The list including Ethiopia was compiled before an outbreak of fighting between Ethiopia and Somalia.) - Sapa-AP