Hot Travel Destinations for 2017

Each year, a number of places seem to ride a wave of popularity among travelers.

Whether it’s a sudden influx of visitors due to political changes, like in Cuba, or heightened interest thanks to sporting events such as the Olympic Games in Rio, there are a number of reasons why hot destinations emerge.

In 2017, we can expect visitor numbers to spike in the poles, according to Lucie Greene of the Innovation Group at J. Walter Thompson. Greene claims warmer weather at the poles will encourage travel to destinations such as Svalbard and the White Desert camp in Antarctica.

Another hot destination is Canada, with the country celebrating its 150^th birthday in 2017. To mark the event, all of its national parks are free to visit for a year, which is likely to attract plenty of people to places like Banff in Alberta.

In Europe, look beyond the typical city break destinations to find the new hot spots. Hamburg looks set to take over from Berlin as Germany’s capital of cool, with architectural delights such as the Elbephilarmonie concert hall set for completion.

Further east, Finland is set to catch up with neighbors Sweden and Denmark in terms of Scandinavian cool. It might garner less attention right now, but 2017 will see far more interest in the natural beauty of the country, as well as the food, art and design attractions in the capital, Helsinki.