Bee Travel
New travel destinations offered
What's new? While technically there aren't any really new places on earth, the fact that there are new destinations announced every year makes it seem so. Sometimes it's a newly developed part of an already developed island. Sometimes it's the repackaging of an old destination in a new way.

CHRISTINE HICKS- USTA Travel

In the past few days, I have read about old stone huts on Crete that have been cleaned up, fixed up, and otherwise made habitable and desirable for the Cretan tourist. I read about the new capital of Kazakhstan - Astana. Then there are new cruise itineraries that always hold a few surprises.

The 2009 slate of Crystal Cruise itineraries will include Israel and Egypt, as well as itineraries throughout Asia and the Amazon. What's new is that almost every itinerary will feature at least one overnight stay in port, and among those are stays in Dubai and a double overnight in St. Petersburg. New ports of call will include Kotor in Montenegro, Lipari in Italy, Patmos in Greece, Sinop in Turkey, Alesund in Norway and Kiel in Germany.

SeaDream Yacht Cruises have also "refreshed" their itineraries. In the Caribbean, they're adding stops at Culebra, Puerto Rico, Honeymoon Beach and Water Island in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Cooper Island in the British Virgin Islands, and Coconut Grove on Nevis. European stops have been revamped to include Formentera, Spain; Lipari, Santa Margherita and Trieste in Italy; Le Lavandou, Antibes, Port Vendres, Sete, Bandol and Menton in France; Piran, Slovenia; V is, Croatia; Le Goulette, Tunisia; Katakolon, Elafonisos, Aigina, Chania and Crete in Greece; Mali and Losinj, Croatia; and Ponta Delgada in the Azores. I haven't located all those on the map yet. As I said, these aren't new places. These are just newly placed in front of us, in ways we haven't seen before.

So what else is new? Well, new in the sense of "hot" you'll find India and China running in front of the pack. China is drafting in the race that is the Summer Olympics.

India is simply riding the success of good economics. Its tourism infrastructure has all the underpinnings of being able to sustain growth for the long run. With new nonstop flights between New York and India, new tour operators offering programs within its borders, and a continued expansion of joint ventures between and among hoteliers, financial backers and untapped touristic sights, the growth potential is staggering. There's a lot more to India than the Taj Mahal. Consider, for example, the four-year-old train adventure aboard the Deccan Odyssey. It's a deluxe train adventure through the kingdom of the Marathas, or Maharashtra. Never heard of it? Neither had I. (See www.maharashtratourism. gov. in.)

What's old is new again, as evidence by the vast majority of these aforementioned places with long links to history. Some hold World Heritage site treasures. All hold the promise of excitement. That's what's new.

(Christine Hicks-Usta has enjoyed more than 30 years of globe-trotting as a member of the travel industry. Direct questions to her at Bee Group Newspapers, P.O. Box 150, Buffalo, NY 14231-0150.)