Travel Predictions for 2010
Tom Swick: This just in: The Jersey shore will become the new Hamptons!
01.05.10 | 10:02 AM ET
iStockPhotoMore people will leave home than ever before, though many will just go out for a beer.
It will be safe to walk the Appalachian Trail again.
Americans will finally be allowed to travel legally to Cuba, and boatloads of long-suffering tourists will inundate the island.
Oasis of the Seas will lose its status as the world’s largest cruise ship with the launch of Biggest Loser of the Seas.
In deference to literal-minded travelers, boutique hotels will start housing boutiques.
Andrew Zimmern will decide that he really doesn’t like offal and insects, and will start traveling the world in search of salads.
The Winter Olympics in British Columbia will be remarkably free of drug scandals, though many of the spectators will be stoned.
As part of his continuing effort to stay out of the spotlight, Tiger Woods will become a travel writer.
The Hamptons will be quiet this summer as everyone heads to the Jersey Shore.
The pilgrimage to Santiago in Spain will become a popular reality show.
Before takeoff, flight attendants will come down the aisle and ask passengers if they understand English and are physically capable of restraining the person next to them if that person suddenly sets himself on fire.
Rick Steves will start his campaign for president.
On the first Sunday in September, the New York Times Travel section will consist of nothing but ads and blank spaces due to the paper’s inability to find any writers who have never taken a free trip.
In a risky marketing move, W hotels will change their name to F.
Strangers, periodically, will kiss kindness goodbye.
Instead of banning smoking in bars and restaurants, Japan will simply require that such establishments have on hand, for non-smoking patrons, the ever-popular surgical masks.
President Obama will be given a Lowell Thomas Award.
Trends in adventure travel will continue as Greece, Australia and California all start offering fire-fighting vacations.
Visits to Amish Country will increase as travelers look for places where the locals aren’t wired or glued to their cell phones.
An Elderhostel tour member in London will cash the world’s last traveler’s check.
First it was the aquarium, then the retro stadium, then the Frank Gehry building. This year, giving a city cachet, will be the Twitter Park.
Responding to vandalism, Paris will replace its rent-a-bike program with rent-a-torched-car.
Mexico will rebound from a disastrous 2009, but will remain far from God and close to the United States.
The World Cup in South Africa will be a boon for tourism, especially if, after the competition, authorities fill the stadiums with wild animals.
The coming green travel trend? Earthen suitcases.
Fraud will be suspected when Tehran keeps getting voted the world’s most beautiful city.
A young American, traveling in Asia, will lose her iPhone and find nirvana.