A quartet of countries dubbed ChIIC — China, India, Iceland and Cuba — has been singled out as hot spot destinations for 2017 in a newly released travel market report.
The report, prepared by global market research group Euromonitor for the World Travel Market event happening in London this week, identified the four countries as emerging destinations next year for reasons that range from increased accessibility to brand awareness and geopolitical changes.
More than half of travel firms polled said they expect to do more business in China next year, following the signing of an agreement last month that allows more than double the number of flights to operate between the UK and China.
Visits are also expected to spike now that foreign tourists arriving in Shanghai on a cruise ship are allowed 15 days of visa-free stays either in Shanghai, Beijing or Tianjin.
2017 big year for India
India will bag some of the international spotlight next year when it marks the 70th anniversary of independence from Britain. The country’s tourism office is pumping more than $330 million USD into tourism campaigns in the hope of attracting more than 13 million visitors a year by 2020.
Some of the most popular destinations in India include Delhi, Agra, Jaipur, Rajasthan, Goa, Kerala, Kashmir and the North East.
Iceland’s tourism boom
Thanks to aggressive and innovative tourism campaigns and initiatives, Iceland expects to welcome 2 million tourists next year — five times the number it received in 2010.
For perspective, the population of the country is 332,000.
The country also owes some of its popularity to its national soccer team and fans during the Euro 2016 tournament, when the world caught wind of their Viking slow-cap war cry, and the country’s starring role in the wildly popular series “Game of Thrones.”
And travel to Cuba is forecast to continue rising next year, following the easing of travel restrictions among US travellers and an additional eight airlines flying to the island country this fall.
The World Travel Market takes place in London and wraps up November 9.
