Travel Predictions 2011

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Today's honeymoon couples are looking beyond the Caribbean to Central America. Perhaps it's because the older generation honeymooned in the Caribbean. Or that overbuilt beaches in Puerto Rico, Aruba, Barbados, and elsewhere -- with their stretches of tall, white hotels in a row -- simply don't appeal to couples who want to be closer to nature and further away from other travelers.

Culinary travel has been a big trend in recent years. Everywhere from independent resorts to big corporations like Hyatt have upped their game by offering true gourmet fare in their restaurants. But it needn't be limited to dinner. In the coming year, more and more resorts will offer gourmet picnics to go, so that couples can take off on a hike, sail to a private beach, or embark on a kayak journey, then break to savor the chef's delights. We love what The Point, a Relais & Chateaux property in the Adirondacks, does: It sends couples off with backpacks filled with southern fried chicken and other savories and sweets.

Construction plans for many new Vegas hotels were in the pipeline when the Great Recession hit, and now they're looking for customers. From the multi-hotel CityCenter to the opened-in-2010 Cosmopolitan, room rates are relatively low for the amount of luxury you get. In addition to the hotels, splendid restaurants in these facilities conceived by the world's best chefs make for a mouth-watering vacation. In Toronto, the overbuilding took place because the city anticipated winning its 2008 Summer Olympics bid. It didn't, magnificent new hotels were erected, and travelers reap the benefits.

Those who've graduated from (or managed to avoid) booze cruises, cruises to nowhere, and cruises to tourist traps disguised as Caribbean ports, will be looking for more interesting cruises that call at exotic ports. Many of these are served by smaller ships that offer a more intimate travel experience. Tahiti, Asia, the Norwegian fjords, Turkey, and Greece will be prime destinations for couples setting sail.

While US citizens have been fretting over the economy, China's been booming. In popular destinations like Beijing and Shanghai, architects have been outdoing themselves to build the biggest, tallest, and best hotels. Even in smaller places, like scenic Guilin, international luxury brands such as Shangri-La are building and inviting couples to experience the best of new world luxury in ancient cities.