Need some suggestions on how to burn up vacation time this year?
For travelers whose new year's resolutions include traveling more and leaving fewer (or no) days of unused vacation days on the table at year's end, industry experts have plenty of suggestions.
With the digital era is playing a greater role in how people — particularly millennials — make their decisions on where and when to travel, a number of the hot spots this year would qualify as Instagram-worthy. According to Hero Traveler, a millennial-focused travel platform, 62 percent of travelers use their smartphones to research destination vacation spots. Meanwhile, a whopping 75 percent of journeys taken by millennials were influenced by social media.
Some of the "go here" lists CNBC recently consulted also off tips on the best times and reasons to travel to destinations near and far. And some experts are also suggesting that vacationers steer clear of certain locations.
When to go
Flexible travelers can score great flight deals in January and September when kids head back to school and official vacation seasons end, according to travel site Hipmunk. This year, Hipmunk expects airfares to Cincinnati, Palm Springs, California, Orlando, Denver and Las Vegas to fall 30 to 50 percent below peak prices in January.
Equally great flight deals to places like Hawaii, South Florida and Oakland, California, are predicted for September.
Make your way to Wyoming
(Wyoming Women Voting_ BHP Images)
Wyoming, well-known for its rugged landscapes and National Parks, is known as the Cowboy State. Its other nickname is Equality State because in 1869 Wyoming (then still a territory) was the first to grant women the right to vote and hold office. In 2019, Wyoming marks the 150th anniversary of this milestone and other firsts for women in politics.
Best bets for families and tag-along pets
In its 2019 Travel Hacker Guide, Kayak's experts offer some "Best For" picks —including Portland, Oregon, for travelers who don't want to leave their pets at home, and Indianapolis for family-friendly activities.
"We chose Portland for its plethora of pet-friendly hotels, eateries and breweries," said Kayak's David Solomito, "Not to mention, with over 30 off-leash areas, Portland has the most dog parks per capita of any large U.S. city."
Indy got the nod because it offers attractions and activities for the entire family, including the Indianapolis Zoo, the legendary Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the world's largest children's museum, which has a dinosaur dig excavation site, live theater performances and a historic carousel.
Ready for your close up?
For 2019, Frommer's put together a list of 19 places for enriching journeys, including Singapore, Bulgaria, Zimbabwe and Nagasaki, Japan. Also on the list: Memphis, Tennessee, which will celebrate its bicentennial with concerts and historical exhibits, and New York state. There, a museum dedicated to baseball pioneer Jackie Robinson opens in New York City, and fans can mark the 50th anniversary of the Woodstock music festival with a concert on the original upstate site in Bethel.
This year would also be a great time to visit Tinseltown's new Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, which should open late in the year.
Celebrate Space and the Crescent City
Afar's list of 25 places to go in 2019 includes the Caribbean islands of St. Lucia, Dominica and the Dominican Republic; the Australian beach town of Byron Bay, and Germany, which is celebrating the centennial of the Bauhaus industrial movement.
Also on Afar's list: Houston, where the NASA Johnson Space Center will be commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing by unveiling the reconstructed Mission Control Center; and New Orleans, where the now-classic Jazz & Heritage Festival will mark its fifth decade beginning in late April.
Jet to Japan
Global luxury travel network Virtuoso surveyed its travel advisors and came up with a list of nine "must have" experiences for 2019. They urge travelers to skydive in New Zealand, cruise Norwegian fjords, travel a few legs on the legendary Venice Simplon-Orient-Express and visit the beaches of Normandy in northern France to commemorate the 75th anniversary of D-Day on June 6.
Japan will host the Rugby World Cup match from Sept. 20 to Nov. 2, a six-week span that Virtuoso points out coincides nicely with peak fall foliage viewing.
Take in Toronto — or go for Greenland
National Geographic Traveler magazine's list of 28 "must see" destinations and travel experiences for 2019 is broken out into suggestions for city lovers, nature lovers and those in search of culture and adventure.
The expansive list includes Greenland, Macedonia, the Canterbury region of New Zealand and design-themed jaunt along Germany's Bauhaus Trail. For 2019, National Geographic is also pointing nature lovers toward Belize, the Peruvian Amazon and Tahiti, French Polynesia, and is urging urban explorers to spend time in Salvador, Brazil; Perth, Australia or Toronto.
There's even some advice on where not to go in 2019. Fodor's No List includes popular destinations like Ibiza, Myanmar, Acapulco, Nicaragua and Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Those are places where travelers may want to think twice about visiting right now for reasons such as political unrest, crime, environmental concerns and overcrowding.