Where would you like to travel in 2012? For people in the travel industry, it’s often easier to come up with a list of where they wouldn’t like to travel. So many destinations, so little time.

This time of year, travel lists abound, with each, naturally, subjective in its own way. Looking for top luxury spots? Budget destinations? Off-the-beaten-path spots? How about top ethical places in the developing world? There’s a list for you.

Mayan ruins at Tulum, Mexico.

Without reading a single one, a destination gambler’s best odds for this year would be to include London and its surroundings, home of the 2012 Summer Olympic Games. Not far behind should be locales in Mexico and Central America that were part of the Mayan world. That culture, after all, predicts that the world as we know it will transition into its next phase on December 21, 2012.

Many of the current 2012 travel lists do indeed mention one or both of these destinations/regions, namely CNN’s World’s Top Destinations for 2012 (the first four of which also include Chicago and Myanmar and happen to align with my personal list of where I’m likely heading this year) and Frommer’s Best Destinations for 2012.

The Frommer’s list is particularly interesting as it’s geared toward the hard-to-define traveler who simply loves to explore the world and runs the gamut from budget to luxury. Destination choices are all over the map, literally and figuratively, from Canada’s Bay of Fundy to Japan’s Fukuoka, Ghana to Girona, Spain, with Beirut, Curacao, Kansas City and Chongqing, China, rounding out the list.

Uptake’s own Yen Lee harnessed the social media power of Facebook’s friend graph to capture the most buzzed about places, based on more than 200 million comments, status updates, photo descriptions and check-ins. The list published on Huffington Post includes some classic Southeast Asian gems, including Hoi An, Vietnam, and Luang Prabang, Laos, along with Copacabana, Bolivia, and Portland, Oregon, stateside.

Lonely Planet has expanded its audience significantly beyond intrepid backpackers during the past decade, so its annual lists now seem to include more places that make one wonder “why there” as opposed to “where is there.” There remain, however, some great picks. For top U.S. destinations, LP editors recommend the always-enjoyable Chicago, the Four Corners region of the Southwest, California’s Gold Country and, perhaps more surprisingly than the other spots, Cincinnati. Ever hear of Culebra? No? It’s an island 17 miles off the coast of Puerto Rico. The Caribbean tropics can be yours, no passport required.

Luxury lovers who turn first to picks from Travel & Leisure‘s Hottest Destinations of 2012 will find a variety of remote resort destinations from which to choose, including Sri Lanka, Xishuangbanna in China’s Yunnan Province, and Mozambique’s Northern Coast, along with Bentonville, Arkansas. That’s right—Arkansas, which made the list thanks to the Moshe Safdie-designed Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, opened in November.

Budget Travel magazine has a terrific list of value destinations, including Egypt—surely a bargain these days and desperately trying to rebuild its tourism industry; Atlantic Canada, which also appears on a variety of lists; and Taipei, a personal favorite, for its culinary scene and diverse topography. Stateside San Diego and San Antonio are the places to stretch your dollars.

Conscientious and green travelers can thank Ethical Traveler for its newly released list of the Developing Worlds 10 Best Ethical Destinations (press release), based on their accomplishments in the areas of environmental protection, social welfare, and human rights. The winners, in alphabetical order, are: Argentina, The Bahamas, Chile, Costa Rica, Dominica, Latvia, Mauritius, Palau, Serbia and Uruguay.

The editors at The New York Times haven’t yet published their list for 2012, but they recommended 41 places to go in 2011. That probably was inclusive enough to last most people a good few years, or even a decade.

Photo: D.M. Airoldi

It’s been quite a busy month for Sheila C. Johnson and her hospitality company.

Yesterday Salamander Hotels & Resorts announced that it has taken over management of Reunion Wyndham Grand Resort near Orlando in Kissimmee and Hammock Beach Resort in Palm Coast, and with its recently renovated Innisbrook Resort near Tampa in Palm Harbor, has united the three properties to form Grand Golf Resorts of Florida.

The new group of resorts offers 162 holes of golf designed by Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Tom Watson and Larry Packard. Grand Golf Resorts of Florida also features the only resort-based ANNIKA Academy, an innovative teaching facility designed and developed by Annika Sorenstam, who attended the announcement event.

Salamander also unveiled what it has dubbed the Legends of Golf Trail, which essentially is the route between the resorts and across Florida, and plans to introduce a new Grand Membership program that includes club benefits for all three properties, beginning with the 2012 season.

In early October, the Virginia-based Salamander was selected to manage Sanctuary Cap Cana in the Dominican Republic. The $110 million, 176-suite property is in the process of being converted from an all-inclusive, couples-only resort to a traditional a la carte property, with plans to begin welcoming new guests and families in December. All current reservations are being honored during the transition.

The Sanctuary joins two other resorts in Salamander’s newly formed Grand Resorts at Cap Cana collection, which includes the Fishing Lodge Cap Cana, a 298-villa property currently scheduled to open on Nov. 3, and the Ocean Club Cap Cana, a 113-room boutique hotel, due to open in 2012. Managing Director Hendrick Santos, who spent 19 years with Hyatt Hotels Corporation, is overseeing the collection.

Salamander was launched in 2005 by Johnson, who was a founding partner of BET and who currently has ownership in three professional sports teams: the WNBA’s Washington Mystics, the NBA’s Washington Wizards and the NHL’s Washington Capitals. Additional properties in the company’s portfolio include the five-star Woodlands Inn near Charleston, S.C., and the Salamander Resort & Spa, a 340-acre equestrian-themed resort that will have 168 guest rooms and suites and a cooking school. The property is currently under construction and due to open in 2013 near Washington, D.C., in Middleburg, Virginia.

Photo: Fishing Lodge at Cap Cana/Salamander

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