With the start of a new year, many of us start anticipating (and planning) where we like to travel. Here are five hotspot destinations you’ll want to put on your travel radar. Our list contains three destinations identified by Tripadvisor Travelcast as up and comers, a “forbidden” and undiscovered locale, and of course, we’ve included a destination that has ample volunteer opportunities.
Patara, Turkey

With a 12-mile of golden sands backed by the dunes and the Taurus mountains and an abundance of Lycian and Roman ruins peeking out of the sand dunes, …

National Geographic Society’s Center for Sustainable Destinations‘ 6th annual survey highlights 133 worldwide destinations and how they rate in sustainability, social and cultural integrity, aesthetic appeal, tourism management, and future outlook. The Center gathered a panel of “437 travel experts from various fields — historic preservation, site management, geography, sustainable tourism, ecology, indigenous cultures, travel writing and photography, and archaeology” to assess the destinations based on authenticity and stewardship, not popularity. According to NG, “The condition of any destination is a mix of what local governments, residents, and businesses …

White sandy beaches, crystal clear blue sea, brilliant underwater world…

Spend a week at this tropical paradise and participate in a worthy effort to conserve and monitor threatened species like hawksbill and green turtles.
Redang Island in Malaysia is located in the South China Sea, approximately 45 km North Northeast of Kuala Terengganu and 22.5 km east of Tanjung Merang, the take-off point for the island from the mainland. Redang tantalizes each visitor with it’s amazing array of marine life and placid turquoise waters. As one of Malaysia’s more popular island destinations, …

China’s CCTV reported that the Green Hope School in Sichuan Province has launched a program themed “Striving for a Better Tomorrow and Touching Your Soul” to recruit white-collar workers to spend five working days — the length of annual vacations — in November to teach in the mountainous areas of Sichuan Province. The response has been overwhelming with 11,502 applicants for 15 volunteer spots.
“In the past month, we have been overwhelmed by phone calls. Besides the local calls, we also received application calls and emails from Zhejiang Province, Beijing and …

A group of Habitat volunteer travelers to Vietnam believed they uncovered perhaps the next hotspot in the making during their break from volunteer duties. Though not quite the hotspot like Phuket in Thailand yet, Phu Quoc Island in Vietnam has all the ingredients of a hotspot — pristine beaches, untouched natural environment, easy going and relaxed atmosphere, good food, friendly locals — and the Vietnamese government is intent on making it a destination!
Earlier this year, a group of Americans and New Zealanders volunteering with Habitat for Humanity International to …

Think you have to pull up your sleeves and work on building orphanages in rural Africa or teach children devastated by poverty and AIDS in southeast Asia to give back when you travel? Not so. Responsible travel and travel philanthropy is all about giving back to the people and places you travel to AND there are endless ways you can do that. Voluntourism is just one of the more evident ways. Anyone CAN take a trip that gives back, even while enjoying travel luxuries.
This month Conde Nast Traveler features “Eight …