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The hottest spots on the planet for 2007

By Cheryl Blackerby
NY TIMES NEWS SERVICE, WEST PALM BEACH, FLORIDA
Wednesday, Jan 03, 2007, Page 13

Other countries have built futuristic capitals in remote outposts, Brasilia most famously, and other cities have experienced feverish, transformational construction, like Dubai. But none have sprung up quite like Astana, Kazakhstan's capital city, and no other country has a cultural ambassador quite like Borat. PHOTOS: NY TIMES NEWS SERVICE

The 4,000 travelers who use TripAdvisor.com have spoken.

The top hot spot in the world for this year is Pamukkale, Turkey.

Never heard of it? Imagine white terraced pools of calcium-rich hot springs, sought out by travelers for thousands of years. And picture the spectacular ancient city of Hierapolis, and the Sacred Pool, where you can swim among fallen Roman columns. And, here's the best part — Turkey, with its incredible antiquities and welcoming villages, is an inexpensive vacation.

Here are the other places that made TripAdvisor's Top Hot Spots for 2007 (in descending order):

* Parga, Greece
* Ayr, Scotland
* Campeche, Mexico
* Marrakech, Morocco
* Naxos, Greece
* Puno, Peru
* Soller, Spain
* Salvador
* Bahia, Brazil
* Fez, Morocco

Better get out your guidebooks, and do some research on these extraordinary places, which are definitely off the tourist track. And they're all good deals compared to the usual European cities.

This top group is more than anecdotal reports; it's a scientific survey conducted by TripAdvisor engineers who developed a proprietary algorithm that looks at several criteria including changes in search activity and postings through the world's largest travel community, www.tripadvisor.com.

Breckenridge Ski Resort's new gondola, the BreckConnect, links visitors from Main Street to the resort base areas.

Translation: You can put money on the probability that Pamukkale and Parga will be the next big things. Go before Paris Hilton gets there.

The number one US destination nominated by TripAdvisor's 4,000 travelers: Anna Maria, a little town on Anna Maria Island between Sarasota and St. Petersburg. A narrow strip of the whitest sand on the gulf, with no crowds or traffic, the island has a half-dozen excellent seafood restaurants, Old Florida wood cottages on the beach that can be rented at reasonable prices, and two city piers for fishing. Incredibly, developers haven't found it yet. Here, you can still explore Florida the way it was 50 years ago.

Boats on Lake Titicaca, near Puno in Peru, are made of reeds, which the indigenous Uros also use to make their dwellings.

It's perplexing, and worrisome, that 4,000 travelers around the world know about Anna Maria.

Here are the rest of TripAdvisor's Top 10 Hot US Destinations for this year (in descending order):

* Kailua, Hawaii
* Siesta Key, just south of Sarasota on the gulf
* Macon, Georgia
* Breckenridge, Colorado
* Millinocket, Maine
* Vail, Colorado
* Bishop, California
* Franklin, Tennessee
* Eureka, California

Travel + Leisure travel magazine also offered its travel forecast for 2007 (read more at www.travelandleisure.com).

Their four picks for Up-and-Coming Destinations (and all are inexpensive destinations):

Alexandria, Egypt, which the magazine editors say is "reclaiming its role as a cultural beacon." As proof of an emerging destination for savvy, and wealthy travelers, Alexandria is getting a new Four Seasons resort on the Mediterranean coast.

Quito, Ecuador: "This city's dramatic revitalization makes it a growing favorite in South America." And it's easier to reach than ever; more US flights were recently added.

New Orleans, Louisiana: "The city is back and ready for visitors, with new and newly revamped hotels. Plus, there are volunteer opportunities for travelers," editors said.

Istria, Croatia: "This affordable and increasingly accessible spot could be mistaken for Provence, with kilometers of vineyards, medieval villages, and pristine beaches."

The next Caribbean hot spot, they say, is St. Lucia, which will add more than 1,500 hotel rooms by the end of 2007. New, luxe outposts are generating buzz, such as Discovery at Marigot Bay, Cotton Bay Village, the Landings resort, the Jade Mountain addition to the Anse Chastanet Resort, and the Ritz-Carlton, which is set to open in 2009.

"Longevity retreats" will also be big, says Travel + Leisure, such as the California WellBeing Institute and the Center for Life in Balance at Miraval, which will start to provide travelers with medical tests and health advice. "There will be a growing interest in destination health and wellness centers that aim to help extend lives," says Travel + Leisure.

Lonely Planet, which publishes travel guidebooks and produces www.lonelyplanet.com, predicts Macau, on the China coast, will become the new Las Vegas with "spectacular, over-the-top casinos rising amid surprisingly well-preserved colonial sites. The recent opening of the Wynn Macau and a new version of the Las Vegas Venetian Casino Resort scheduled to open this summer are just a few developments," reports Lonely Planet.

Kazakhstan, the setting of Sacha Baron Cohen's new movie, is getting lots of attention, says John Noble, one of Lonely Planet's authors, who says Cohen may have done the country a favor by misrepresenting it. "After all, millions who had never heard of Kazakhstan now have a notion of it that can only get better," he writes at www.lonelyplanet.com/journeys/feature/kazakhstan1106.cfm.

Noble says that for most travelers, Kazakhstan "is one of the world's last great unknowns. Hiking and climbing in the nearby mountains and visits to Islamic monuments in the south have traditionally been the chief attractions."

Its capital, Astana, offers "monumental 21st-century architecture," in contrast to the monotonous Soviet-era block buildings elsewhere in the country.

Noble says there are "excellent community ecotourism programs" in which travelers can stay with village families at affordable prices in places like Korgalzhyn, the world's most northerly flamingo habitat, and the southern mountain villages of Aksu-Zhabagly, Ugam and Lepsinsk, jumping-off points for pristine wilderness areas.

So, there you have it — a wide range of truly fascinating and diverse possibilities for 2007.
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