Dan Peltier

Many travel brands were sweetening their deals for U.S. travelers last year to encourage them to take advantage of their dollars going further. The deals have remained pretty sweet this year, too, as countries like Canada and the UK are already reporting record U.S. visits.

Travel is the world's largest industry and should be taking a leadership position about Myanmar to publicly condemn ethnic cleansing, and show the country's military government that tourism dollars aren't unconditional if it supports crimes against humanity.

Money talks no matter where you're from. More of Visit Florida's partners will need to dish out deeper deals if the state wants to get serious about presenting itself as affordable to Canadians when, in reality, popular attractions like Disney World only get more expensive.

Shopping is one of the parts of any trip that many travelers look forward to. Online shopping is certainly impacting in-destination spending in some markets, and more tourism boards are getting creative with how to compete with e-commerce giants.

Destinations with visitor centers are adjusting their strategies to ensure their locations are being effectively utilized. The concept of a mobile or pop-up visitor center is also becoming more common, and is certainly a trend to watch in 2018.

Marketing campaigns are always a key ingredient in responding to natural disasters, and showing travelers that a destination hasn't completely bottomed out. To get the message out, it also helps to have sufficient funding and resources, which some islands are currently lacking.

Many avid travelers and destination marketers look forward to these where-to-go lists and the Times wants to make its list more engaging and relevant to its readers. Sending a reporter to 52 places in 52 weeks sounds like a stretch, but there's no doubt many travelers will enjoy following the person who will have one of the world's best jobs.

Many Caribbean destinations are on the road to recovery from recent storms, but they are also at the mercy of government relief efforts, which have fallen way short in some places. In Puerto Rico's case, the island is dealing with the federal government, which treated hurricanes on the U.S. mainland much more seriously.

The cruise industry in the Caribbean quickly pivoted as it headed into its busiest season. While cruise lines might be able to scrape by relatively unharmed — it's easy to change ports when something goes wrong — the negative impact on destinations missing out on cruise sailings will be felt for years.

Blockchain and China are both areas that investors find interesting, but blockchain requires a long-term view and China is really tough, especially domestically. Meanwhile, investors are pouring money into artificial intelligence and virtual reality, and are trying to sort out which travel startups working in these fields will make it to the finish line.