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

The newly released Hotels.com Hotel Price Index (HPI), covering the first six months of 2011, shows a 3 percent global price increase and continued gradual recovery of the industry despite natural disasters and political upheavals in the first half of the year, and ongoing economic and employment stagnation in the United States.

Rates, however, are still below their pre-recession peak in mid-2007, so there remain some good deals and value for travelers.

“Despite the gradual upward trend in hotel prices compared to recent bargain basement rates, there are still plenty of great deals for consumers,” said Victor Owens, vice president of marketing North America for hotels.com, in a statement. “Sales are popping up constantly, especially last-minute sales on desirable locations. There are plenty of cities that still have reduced average hotel rates. Even popular tourist destinations offer deals during the off-peak season.”

The HPI surveys hotel prices in major city destinations across the world and is based on bookings made on hotels.com, with prices shown as those actually paid by customers (rather than advertised rates) for the period being reviewed. This report compares prices paid in 2010 with prices paid in 2011.

Higher Costs for U.S. Travelers

The weak U.S. dollar means overseas travel is even more costly for Americans, particularly for European destinations, where U.S. travelers paid 11 percent more for hotel rooms in the first half of 2011 than they did in 2010. They also paid a 5 percent increase for rooms in North America, a 4 percent increase in the Caribbean, but just a 1 percent rise in Asia.

In the 10 most expensive international cities, rates rose 22 percent on average, with U.S. travelers paying $350 per night and up for rooms in destinations as diverse as Vieques, Puerto Rico, and Monte Carlo, Monaco. French Polynesia’s Bora Bora topped the list, with daily rates averaging $800.

New York once again is the most expensive city for travelers in the United States, with an average rate of $190.46, up 5 percent from $181.66 in 2010, followed by Honolulu, up 13 percent, Boston and Miami, up 7 percent each, and New Orleans, up 12 percent from 2010.

International Destination Trends

When it comes to where Americans are traveling, little has changed. Europe remains the international spot most frequented by U.S. travelers, with London, Paris and Rome the three most popular destinations. Our neighbors to the north, Toronto and Vancouver, are fourth and fifth, respectively. European cities grabbed 10 more of the top spots, with Madrid, Amsterdam, Dublin, Florence and Venice each moving up in popularity.

The fastest growing cities for U.S. travelers are in Asia, with Beijing, Bangkok and Seoul rising from 12 to 16 spots each, and the first two, along with Hong Kong and Shanghai, ranking in the top 20.

For full HPI results, visit www.hotel-price-index.com.

Image: Hotels.com HPI Survey

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File this under No Big Surprise: London hotels are raising their rates significantly in anticipation of the April wedding between Prince William and Kate Middleton.

A room at the Waldorf Hilton, located about 15 minutes from where the wedding ceremony will take place at Westminster Abbey, normally prices rooms for about 269 GBP per night (roughly US$431).  According to the hotel’s website, visitors should expect to pay 349 GBP (US$559) a night on the weekend of the wedding. There are about 103,000 hotel rooms in central London, many of which are already booked for the days surrounding the April 29, 2011 nuptials.

But it’s not just traditional hoteliers who are expected to profit from the royal event; overnight stays in private homes are being auctioned off to the highest bidder. Everything from extra rooms to entire flats are listed on websites like Londonrentmyhouse.com, a practice that is common during major tourism events in London. Apartments are already being offered for the London 2012 Summer Olympics, and the yearly Wimbledon tennis tournament frequently sees tourists renting from well-located residents.

According to Visit London, the organization in charge of tourism for the U.K. city, officials expect at least 600,000 visitors to come for the spring wedding. Visit London also estimates that the event will generate anywhere from 30 to 50 million GBP in additional revenue for the city’s economy.

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