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Fishing boats at Lake Malawi. Peter Groendijk / Getty Images

From Doha, this year’s Arab Capital of Culture, to the wilds of Malawi, here is how to spend your time (and money) in the New Year.

Where did you unroll your beach towel last year? If all you took away from a two-week summer break was a tan, you simply weren’t trying hard enough. In 2009, seeking out new experiences rather than sun loungers, was high up on travellers’ wish lists. In fact, the world’s financial woes may have completed a process that the internet kick-started years ago: most of us no longer want an off-the-shelf package holiday. Instead, a trip starts weeks or months before departure, squirrelling around online to find the best deals and experiences that will be personally rewarding.

As Tom Hall, the travel editor of Lonely Planet puts it: “As people get better travelled, they are keen to do something that distinguishes their trip from their next-door neighbours.”

It’s a trend that’s recognised by Justin Francis, the managing director of Responsibletravel.com, an online travel agent. Booking patterns have changed over the past 12 months away from beach holidays at classic sun spots such as Turkey, Francis says, to activity-based trips requiring more effort such as climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. Top tip on what to avoid in 2010, then: the ghastly travel bore.“Travel is becoming less about ticking off lists of places and things, and more about fulfilment, rejuvenation and testing goals that are physical, emotional and spiritual,” he says.

The more discriminating tourist looks set to stay for the coming decade. Exodus has seen increased interest in its polar programme despite a hefty price of between US$4,800 (Dh17,630) and $40,000 (Dh147,000). Rob Dixon, the marketing manager at the specialist tour operator says that family holiday bookings to more remarkable destinations such as Namibia are also up for 2010. “People really want to take their children somewhere more stimulating than usual,” he explains.
With this in mind, destinations will have to work hard to convince potential holidaymakers that they can offer something unique and worthwhile, and Abu Dhabi – chosen as a hot destination for 2010 by Lonely Planet and Frommer’s travel guides – will be among them.With a new global advertising campaign, the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority says it hopes to attract 10 per cent more hotel guests in 2010. Whether such an influx of guests will be enough to lend desperately needed atmosphere to new hotel restaurants, bars and lobbies remains to be seen.

The Middle East was the only region to record a growth in passenger numbers last year, up 10 per cent compared with a 3.1 per cent fall in air travel globally according to the International Civil Aviation Organisation. If travellers elsewhere were cutting flights abroad in response to the economic downturn, locally, it seems, we bucked the trend. That’s assuming, of course, they were buying return tickets.

The museum of Islamic Art in Doha. Ryan Carter / The National

The national airline of the UAE, Etihad Airways, and its tour operator, Etihad Holidays, are optimistic that business will continue to expand. As the airline competes with more established Asian and European carriers, it is launching new routes to Japan from the end of March and destinations across the US are set to open up via Chicago and New York. These routes will help lure travellers from the UAE to these destinations. More established, short-haul destinations such as Beirut, Cairo, Amman and Damascus will surely increase in popularity according to Wayne Pearce, the chief strategy and planning officer at Etihad.

Best of all, holidaymakers who can be flexible with their dates should continue to enjoy lower prices, particularly if they can take advantage of discounts aimed at boosting sales on new and less popular routes, Pearce says. “Prices on the whole are significantly less than they have been in the past and that has been a function of the recession; that worldwide customers have had extremely good deals … In 2010, there will be many opportunities for people to travel at an affordable rate.”

A view of the Bosphorus and the Yeni Mosque. Nicole Hill / The National

1 One of the world’s most interesting and lovely cities, Istanbul, has been crowned the European Capital of Culture in 2010 (www.en.istanbul2010.org). There will be a panoply of events both large and small to mark the occasion, but if you can’t get tickets – or summon the energy – to appreciate “World Puppets in Istanbul” (March 21 to 26), there’s always a boat trip along the Bosphorus to admire the city where east meets west. Read the rest of this entry »

Back in 1999 during the then economic crisis, I planned my way (with assistance from a friend) to Saudi Arabia with a dream to find new careers and new life for my young family. Alhamdulillah, my prayers during the hajj in 2000 were answered and I was in Dubai immediately after completing the hajj.

I only knew Dubai through ‘Emirates airlines’ billboard on Jalan Sultan Ismail. Never knew much about the UAE as well except Dubai was a popular transit airport. It took me for a while to really understand the risks but I told myself, ‘what the heck, nothing to lose, if I do not like it, I will return home and start all over again’.

About decade later, I still find Dubai fascinating but things are not as before. And in 2005, I traveled to New Zealand with my family for holidays. Same old country that I left in 1988 and managed to drive all the way from Auckland to my foster family home in Wainuiomata without getting lost. Same roads and same picturesque trip to memory lane.

Now, there are opportunities for those who may have some dreams for some changes in life.

New visa categories proposed by new National government