From The New York Times and Travel + Leisure, to Architectural Digest and Eater, many publications like to make predictions of the “hot” places to travel. Here’s my list — with a twist. It’s based not on new hotel openings and blockbuster museum shows, but on destinations that exemplify various issues the industry is contending with. They’re all wonderful places to visit in their own right, but they’re “hot spots” in a different sense of the word.

In early August, I reported on the results of a survey of wealthy U.S. consumers I conducted in partnership with Chandler Mount and his Affluent Consumer Research Company. Among our key findings: Demand for luxury travel was taking off, consumers were splashing out for bigger and further-flung trips, and younger folks use a different set of yardsticks to gauge their satisfaction with a travel brand.

More optimists than pessimists in Strategic Vision’s 2021 Pulse of the Industry Survey, which measured the post-pandemic travel outlook of both luxury travelers and travel advisors. Trending this year: Europe, safaris, domestic trips. Cruises and staycations? Not so much.

A strong economy prevails over concerns about global instability, according to Strategic Vision’s 2020 Pulse of the Industry Survey. At the same time, travelers have become more conscious of their impact on the places they visit.

Today in Sydney we launched the Australian Luxury Traveller 2019 study by Goldman Group – the biggest Virtuoso agency in Australia. The study was completed over the past three months by Strategic Vision in association with AccorHotels.

Increased wealth, interest in new experiences, and inspiration from social media outweigh concerns about economic headwinds and world events in Strategic Vision’s 2019 Pulse of the Industry Survey.

Top travel management firms express broad optimism in Strategic Vision’s 2018 Pulse of the Industry Survey, despite headwinds from terrorism and other challenges...