The headline on the front page of the U.S. print edition of the Financial Times this past Saturday read “Travel Boom as holidays come first. Record profits for airlines. Bookings defy high fares. Spending buoys global economy.” Indeed, we seem to be in a boom time, despite the sense of unease about the global economy — here in the U.S., positive economic news is tempering concerns about a potential recession, but there’s still plenty of anxiety. The question is how long the good times will last.

There was a bit of a kerfuffle here in New York recently about the city’s revamp of the time-honored I ❤️ NY logo. The tourism board tweaked the beloved original, designed by Milton Glaser in 1976, into a clumsily off-kilter I ♥️ NYC, catching heat from marketing pros and city residents alike. It reminded me of the importance of getting visual branding just right, conveying novelty while respecting existing brand equity.

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.