China: Hot travel spot as 2006 begins (AP) Updated: 2005-12-29 15:50
While travel to perennial favorites like Los Angeles, Orlando, New York and
Las Vegas is always strong, some unexpected destinations -- from Colorado and
Arizona to Croatia and China -- are showing up as hot spots for travel as the
2006 season begins.
China: China is No. 6 on the State
Department's list of top international destinations for travel by U.S.
residents, with 1.8 million Americans visiting China in 2004. Those numbers
include visits both to the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong, and
represent a 72 percent increase over 2003.
Visitors walk on a rebuilt section of the
Great Wall of China, near its western-most point, at Jiayuguan, in China's
northwest Gansu province, in this Oct. 11, 2005, file photo.
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Pauline Frommer, of the Frommer guidebooks, said that the message boards at
Frommers.com have 10 times more postings from China than any other Asian
country. "You hear more and more about people going to China and not just to
Beijing, but also to Shanghai," Frommer said. "It's a place Americans should
see. They're shaping up to be our big competitors."
"Americans want to see it before it gets to be the dominating Westernized
country," Whitley added. "You look at Shanghai -- they want it to be like Paris.
There's so much being said about the Chinese culture, and the influence it's
going to have on the world. It's very much of interest to Americans."
In addition to Shanghai, Whitley says tourists are
visiting historic sites like the Great Wall, the famed terra cotta warriors near
Xi'an and the historic Silk Road route.
Whitley added that concerns about avian flu have
not yet dampened interest in the region. "It's too unknown," he said
of the disease, citing the lack of official travel warnings from
the World Health Organization and other agencies.
Colorado: Colorado was tied with California
and Alaska as top domestic destinations among tour companies surveyed by the
U.S. Tour Operators Association, whose members send 11 million Americans on
leisure tours around the world each year.
"Because of the year-round opportunities there for leisure, Colorado is very
popular," said Bob Whitley, president of USTOA.
While Colorado is best-known for winter sports, some ski resorts are now open
year-round for other types of recreation like mountain biking, according to John
Metzger, spokesman for the Colorado Office of Economic Development. The state
also offers hiking, whitewater rafting, kayaking and plenty of
mountain-climbing. "We even have a wine country now -- yet another summer
attraction," Metzger said.
Arizona: American Express Vacations reports that bookings to Hawaii are up
substantially, but one of the biggest surprises domestically is a demand for spa
and golf vacations in Arizona, according to Francesca Bonavita, the company's
vice president of product and global brand development. "As a result, we've
added this U.S. destination in our portfolio for 2006," Bonavita says.
Welness travel : The appeal of spa, golf and other types of R&R ties into
another travel trend -- the rise of "wellness" vacations that combine fitness,
yoga, massage, healthy menus and the like. "Wellness centers" are opening in
places ranging from the Aerie Resort on Vancouver Island in British Columbia,
Canada, to the Cambridge Beaches cottage colony in Bermuda. And tour companies
are offering specialty trips, like a "Healing Vacation" in Hawaii from Well
Traveled Tours, a new Boca Raton, Fla.-based company whose trips combine
sightseeing, spa visits, and health-and-fitness programs.
Justin McNaull, spokesman for AAA, says the term
"wellness vacation" might be more appealing to some consumers than a spa
vacation, which "might seem a little self-indulgent. The health and wellness
side seems a little less decadent. You're investing in yourself as opposed to
pampering yourself. It's self-improvement."
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