On the road to Myanmar, Brazil and Adelaide

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This was published 10 years ago

On the road to Myanmar, Brazil and Adelaide

By Robert Upe
New frontiers: Iceland's Blue Lagoon.

New frontiers: Iceland's Blue Lagoon.Credit: Reuters

Australians are expected to take three million more overseas trips next year than they did five years ago, with many of them seeking out the newest tourist hot spots.

Asia's last frontier, Myanmar, the golden beaches of Sri Lanka, and World Cup football host country Brazil are all on the horizon with savvy travellers for 2014, according to travel experts.

"Brazil will be in the limelight thanks to the football World Cup," Skyscanner's David Boyte said. "We've seen increased interest in Myanmar and Cambodia, and Sri Lanka is the rising star," he said.

Abercrombie & Kent's Sujata Raman agreed: "Sri Lanka is still remarkably unspoilt, with tea plantations and hill stations."

Richard Mole, from Byroads Travel, said Myanmar is still highly priced because of a shortage of tourist beds, but he advises to get there fast.

"It is seen as Asia's last frontier. Cuba is in the same category - go before it changes forever."

Colombia, Iceland and Oman are also on the unofficial 2014 hot list of places to go.

Lonely Planet, in its recent release of Best in Travel 2014, also picks Antarctica, Scotland (hosting the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow) and Mexico among its top 10 destinations.

"Reaching the ends of the earth has never been easier but it's not a trip for the weak of heart or stomach," the travel publisher warns of Antarctica.

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Surprisingly, Lonely Planet even nominates "effortlessly chic" Adelaide among its top 10 cities to see in 2014.

But it is not just the places that Aussies are going to that are grabbing attention, it is the way they are doing it.

Staring out of the window of a tour bus is a thing of the past as travellers choose to immerse themselves in experiences.

Touring options include dining with local families in Russia, fundraising treks to Mount Everest base camp and self-guided GPS walks in Europe.

At a price of $US250,000, Virgin Galactic's sub-orbital space flights are scheduled to begin in 2014. Six passengers at a time will travel to an altitude of 100 kilometres to experience a few minutes of zero gravity.

Not counting any "outer space" travel yet, Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show that 8.4 million Australians left the country last financial year.

Tourism and Transport Forum chief executive Ken Morrison predicts 9 million travellers will go next year, a rise of 3 million travellers since 2008-2009.

"Australians love to travel and that is expected to fuel continuing growth in the number of international trips over the coming year," he said.

"We expect almost 9 million Australians to travel internationally in 2014 with outbound travel forecast to grow at around 4 per cent for the year.

"New Zealand will remain the top destination, with the US and Indonesia each welcoming just short of 1 million Australian visitors next year.

"China will see growth in Australian arrivals of around 7 per cent, while there will be higher than average growth to destinations in Asia like Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Burma (Myanmar), which is becoming more open to international tourism."

Mr Morrison said demand for international travel may soften throughout 2014 if the economy slows and consumer confidence declines, but the forecast of 9 million takes in a range of economic factors including exchange rates as well as the assumption that the US debt ceiling will be raised. "In addition, the availability to Australians of great value airfares to a range of destinations will ensure continuing growth in outbound travel," he said.

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