2009 Travel Trends and Hot Destinations : Kathika Travel Website

By Amanda Kendle

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It’s the time of year when the travel media is full of predictions and survey results forecasting where we are all going to travel next year – what destinations are hot for 2009 and what kind of trip will be the next big thing – from mancations to staycations and a big variety of ecotourist adventures.

It might be a bit of a chicken and egg thing, I think – have travelers really already indicated the trends for next year by booking new destinations, or are we influenced by all of these lists and hints to decide where we will head for our next vacations?

In any case, here are a few of the key results that recent surveys and predictions have said will be the trendy travel destinations during 2009:

The island of Sardinia in Italy is apparently going to be hit by visitors because its seaside resort of Budoni has been named as the #1 destination on TripAdvisor’s TravelCast predictions. Among other destinations on this top ten list of places we will be heading around the world, there are several other Mediterranean destinations including Crete and Hanioti in Greece, Cyprus, Spain and another region of Italy, Peschiera del Garda. Ardmore in Ireland and Goslar in Germany round out the European part of this top ten list and then Sri Lanka and Jordan are the only non-European destinations to get the nod.
For those Americans traveling within the United States, there is another list of top ten destinations, with the top three predictions being St George in Utah, Englewood in Florida and Keauhou in Hawaii. Florida and Hawaii both turn up twice in this list.
“Staycations” are still on the radar for 2009: the TripAdvisor survey found that almost one in five United States travelers are planning to stay at home for their vacation during the next year, with the economic crisis clearly still biting.
Environmentally friendly trends are still at the forefront of many travelers’ minds too, with increasing percentages of travelers being mindful of the ecological impact of their travels. In the United States, 32% of travelers said that would be even more environmentally conscious this year than last year when they are planning and carrying out their travels. Only 21% of British travelers agreed with this, although this was still an increase on their environmental awareness in the 2009 surveys; it sounds like there is something to be hopeful about as far as travelers and the environment are concerned.