Top 10 Destinations for 2022: Australia, Alberta, Switzerland + More

It’s hard to predict what 2022 will look like for travellers, but here’s a look at some potentially hot destinations for the year ahead.

AUSTRALIA

There’s going to be tons of pent-up demand for trips Down Under if the world can get past Omicron, and avoid the next variant. In Queensland, the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef, Dreamtime Dive & Snorkel will allow visitors to learn about conservation efforts and the local ecological system from indigenous guides. The Tasman, Marriott’s first Luxury Collection Property in Australia opened last week (Dec. 15) in Hobart. It’s the first big hotel in Hobart in years, and possibly the best new hotel to open in Australia. The hotel shares three buildings including two dating to the 1840s and 1940s. The 152-room hotel has an Italian restaurant and is perfect for walking to local restaurants, museums, and around town – close to the waterfront for tours too, and ferry to MONA, Hobart’s Museum of Old and New Art. The MONA has been revamped, with new galleries and some of David Walsh’s private art collection. For one of the best wellness walks in Tasmania’s World-Heritage protected wilderness, Walk into Luxury’s new 4-day guided walk takes in the best walking in the Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park and Mount Field.  Starting and ending in Hobart, including Russell Falls to hike the western side of Mount Field National Park to alpine lakes and tarns, before arriving at Lake St Clair…and a distillery visit to finish.  For a well-earned rest sleep overlooking the lake at boutique wilderness lodge, try Pumphouse Point, known for its unique architecture and dramatic setting. Wildlife Wonders, in the state of Victoria near the Great Ocean Road, is a new wildlife sanctuary set among ancient forests and waterfalls. The fellow behind it the landscape designer for the wonderful Hobbiton movie set tours in New Zealand. Australia offers tons of wide-open spaces to explore.

SWITZERLAND

Nobody wants to hopscotch from country to country anymore, given the hassle of testing and travel restrictions. Switzerland offers up big cities such as Zurich and Geneva, as well as mountains and lakes to die for. Small, beautiful cities such as Basel and Lucerne also beckon. One of the great things about Switzerland is the diversity of cultures, as well. Southwest Switzerland is quite French, while northern parts tend to be more Germanic in influence. Ticino offers up a mx of Swiss and Italian culture and cuisine, with palm trees lining deep blue lakes and marvellous waterfalls. The eastern end of the country has villages where they still speak Romansh, a Romance language indigenous to the Graubunden region. Maybe the biggest news for 2022 will be the much applauded and awaited Golden Pass Express train which will take visitors from Interlaken to Montreux without having to stop in Zweissimen. Also, an amazing new cable car in Zermatt will connect Switzerland and Italy. The modern cableway will link the Klein Matterhorn mountain station with the station on Testa Grigia in Italy. A new arts district will open in Lausanne. It’s called Platforme 10 and the official opening is in June 2022. Swiss hotel openings include the Grace Hotel St. Moritz – Auberge Resorts Collection, The Radisson Blu Geneva, the Hotel des Horlogers in the Lake Geneva Region and the Mandarin Oriental Palace Lucerne.

DOMINICA

This small island nation may be the next big things in the Caribbean. It’s already home to several top-notch hotels, including Jungle Bay, Secret Bay and a Kempinski. Dominica is  building a new international airport, which might allow Canadians to fly to the island directly someday. Some 500 acres has been set aside for the project, which is expected to finish in 2025. New hotels on the way include Coulibri Ridge, which is being built by Montreal’s Daniel Langlois. It’s billed a s a self-sustainable, green resort that will be off the grid and use solar power and filtered rainwater. Look for 14 rooms, all with views of nearby Martinique. Plans are underway for a new high-end resort called Tranquility Beach, which will be operated under the Curio Collection by Hilton. The property will be situated on the northern part of the island and could open in 2023. The Anichi Resort and Spa will be located in Portsmouth, Dominica. The 128-room resort will be operated under the Autograph Collection Hotels brand of Marriott. The plan is to have the property open in 2023. Dominica is a wonderful island for nature lovers, with stunning waterfalls and lush, tropical jungle. Make the trek to the south of the island and take a short walk to the top of Scotts Head, where you’ll be rewarded with incredible island and Caribbean views.

GREAT BRITAIN

The Commonwealth Games are in Birmingham next year, running from July 28 to August 8. The city has seen all sorts of changes, and the spotlight will definitely be bright when tens of thousands of athletes, officials and fans arrive from around the world. Unboxed: Creativity in the UK is a large-scale creativity and innovation expo across science, tech, the arts and mathematics. It can be experienced in person, on TV, radio and online. The only path in the world to follow the whole of a country’s coastline, the Wales Coastal Path celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2022. Walking its 870 miles would take months, but you can find shorter sections that are sensational. A new W Hotel is slated to open in Edinburgh next winter. It’s in the St. James Quarter, which is set to open next year with 85 shops, 30 restaurants and a movie theatre. The 2022 Edinburgh International Festival runs August 5-29. This year marks the 75^th anniversary of the festival. September marks the christening of Johnnie Walker Princes Street.

LOS ANGELES

In addition to marvellous beaches, tons of sunshine and fantastic food, Los Angeles has tons of places to get away from it all and enjoy nature. Griffith Park is an immense urban park with hiking trails galore that’s just a few minutes from downtown. Sunset Ranch Hollywood offers horseback rides in the shadow of the Hollywood sign. You also can hike for miles in the Santa Monica Mountains, or really escape with a trip to Catalina Island. The NFL’s Super Bowl will be played in the new SoFi stadium in Inglewood, close to LAX, on February 13. Strangely, L.A. never had a motion picture museum until last year, when The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures opened up next to the wonderful Los Angeles County Museum of Art in midtown L.A. The Academy museum has a  collection of more than 13 million objects to draw upon, plus temporary exhibitions, two state-of-the-art theaters, special events, and an ever-changing calendar of programs and screenings. It’s a visually striking bit of architecture designed in part by the renowned Renzo Piano. Hilton’s Conrad luxury brand will make its California debut with the opening of the Conrad Los Angeles in 2022. The 305-room hotel will be part of The Grand LA mixed use project, which is being designed by architect Frank Gehry and is across the street from Walt Disney Concert Hall. The Thompson Hotels a few months ago debuted a new-build property on Wilcox Avenue between Hollywood and Sunset Boulevard  The 200-room hotel has a rooftop deck with a pool. AccorHotels’ Fairmont took over the landmark Century Plaza hotel in Century City when the property completed its $2.5 billion redevelopment this year. The Fairmont Century Plaza has 400 rooms and 63 luxury residences; a 14,000-square-foot spa; 24,000 square feet of private-event space; and four food and beverage options.   
The Shay, a boutique hotel which is part of the 500,000-square-foot Ivy Station mixed-use project in trendy Culver City in West L.A., opened in the fall. The 148-room hotel, which is being operated by Hyatt as part of its Destination Hotels group, features a 5,000-square-foot rooftop space with a pool, restaurant and lounge. The hotel also includes the restaurant etta, helmed by Chicago chef Danny Grant. The California African American Museum in Exposition Park, just south of downtown, reopened this year with five exhibitions on view. Body + Text features works from CAAM’s permanent collection that pair representations of the Black body with linguistic and textual elements such as words, musical notations and other symbols.

ALBERTA

Métis Crossing is opening a new wildlife park and boutique lodge. The 40-room lodge designed by Métis architect Tiffany Shaw-Collinge will open in January 2022 (pending Alberta COVID-19 restrictions) at Métis Crossing. Each room is curated by a Métis artist and features traditional art and storytelling. The beds each have a hand sewn quilt made by women from the New Dawn Métis Women’s Society, which guests have the option to purchase at the end of their stay. The Visions, Hopes and Dreams at Métis Crossing Wildlife Park is also new, and is a partnership between Lonesome Pine Cattle Co. and Métis Crossing. On September 25, The Visions, Hopes and Dreams at Métis Crossing Wildlife Park welcomed the return of Woods Bison, Plains Bison, White Bison, Elk, White Elk, and Percheron horses to the traditional Métis Lands at Métis Crossing. This represents an important step towards reconciliation as these Indigenous and non-Indigenous equal partners collaborate to welcome the return of traditional heritage species to traditional Métis lands.  Métis Crossing is in Smoky Lake, Alberta approximately 1.5 hours from Edmonton. Fort Edmonton Park, billed as Canada’s largest living history museum, now features an immersive exhibit called the Indigenous Peoples Experience, which explores First Nations and Métis culture. If you’re headed to Jasper this summer, check out the new wilderness-themed hotel from Pursuit. The iconic Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel has a new experience called the 360° Dome, a private outdoor dining venue where you can admire those famous mountain views while dining on local dishes, such as bison short rib. The hotels’ Royal Suite and Fairmont Gold rooms are being given a $28 million renovation and should open in summer.

ST. PETE/CLEARWATER/DUNEDIN

The beaches and sunshine are always a big draw for Canadians. But now we have a resurgent Blue Jays team to follow in delightful Dunedin, where you’ll find the oldest craft brewery in Florida, miles of easy bike/walking trails, boutique shopping and the wonderful Fenway Hotel, a Marriott Autograph Collection property with a fab rooftop bar. This year also marks the 20^th anniversary of St. Pete Pride, which takes place in June and is said to the largest pride parade in the state. The St. Pete Pier reopened last year and is a great spot for food and city views. If you need to get away, try Caladesi Island, a short pontoon boat ride from Honeymoon Island State Park in Dunedin. The beach at Caladesi is massive, and never crowded. A great option in St. Pete is the Egmont Key National Wildlife Refuge a small island just a few km’s offshore.

THAILAND

If we ever get out of this pandemic, the beaches and food and warm weather of southeast Asia will be a big draw. And Thailand is perennially one of the world’s most popular destinations. Bangkok’s crowds might not beckon just yet, but you can bet there will be great deals for the city’s luxury hotels. The islands, such as Koh Samui, might be a bit more pricey given the modern traveller’s desire to be outdoors. If you want to splurge, try the luxurious Four Seasons Tented Camp Golden Triangle, which is north of Chiang Rai and near the borders of both Myanmar and Laos.

TORONTO

 

A spate of new hotels makes Toronto a stand-out for 2022. Not to mention a new cruise ship stop. Canada’s first Ace Hotel, one of the cooler brands around North America, is slated to open west of the Entertainment District early this year. The former Marriott hotel on Bloor Street just east of Yonge should open early in the new year as a W Hotel, complete with a rooftop bar. Newly opened in the fall of 2021 was King Blue, an upscale property in an historic King St. West building with lovely rooms and a great indoor pool. The former Thompson Hotel at Bathurst and Wellington re-opened this past summer as 1 Hotel Toronto, with a gorgeous lobby bar filled with plants and a strong emphasis on recycling and eco-friendly policies. The Sheraton Gateway Hotel at Toronto Pearson recently underwent a massive renovation, and the final product is a stylish delight. The iconic Park Hyatt did a major refurbishment and re-opened in fall with a newly designed rooftop par and a new lobby restaurant called Joni. The ultra-hip Drake Hotel opened a new, modern wing in early December. The Pearle Hotel and Spa on the lakeshore in Burlington is a smashing success, stylish design and fabulous food. On the cruise front, Viking’s posh new Octantis expedition ship will sail from Milwaukee to Toronto in the spring of next year. 

PORTUGAL

One of the world’s highest vaccination rates will almost certainly make this already well-regarded destination even more popular. Lisbon is a great city with fabulous food, great architecture and fun walkable neighbourhoods. The Douro wine region is great for cruising or driving trips, provided you don’t sample too much of the product. The Algarve is great for golf, seafood and hiking. We stayed in a small town called Burgau a few years ago and had a great time.  Portuguese winemaker Antonio Maçanita recently opened a new winery on Pico, an island in the amazing Azores with nearby apartments. I haven’t been to Pico, but I found nearby Sao Jorge to be utterly charming and insanely beautiful.

BONUS:

China: Politics aside they are hosting the Winter Olympics in February

Kauai: Amazing nature on a quiet, peaceful Hawaiian island.

Quebec: A new Club Med opened in Charlevoix in December.