From exotic lands to those a bit closer to home, high street travel retailer Flight Centre makes its predictions on what destinations are going to be popular with travellers this year.

CAMBODIA
Ancient temples, empty beaches, mighty rivers, remote forests ...and (outside Angkor Wat) only a handful of tourists. But the word is out - Cambodia has emerged from decades of war and isolation and is well and truly back on the Southeast Asian travel map.

CROATIA
With its sublime stretch of Adriatic coast, Croatia has long been regarded as one of the most beautiful parts of Europe. Despite the tragedy of war, its charms remain largely intact; most of the tourist areas have been lovingly recreated.

CUBA
Cuba is the Caribbean's largest and least commercialised island and one of the world's last bastions of communism. Its relative political isolation has prevented it from being overrun by tourists, and locals are sincerely friendly to those who do venture in. Cuba will change significantly over the next few years, so get in quick and watch it evolve.

GERMANY
Germany is back on the map with World Cup fever. Germany wears its riches well: elegant big-city charm, small picture-postcard towns, pagan-inspired harvest festivals, a wealth of art and culture and the perennial pleasures of huge tracts of forest, delightful castles and fine wine and beer are all there for the savouring.

HONG KONG
Hong Kong is currently experiencing a renaissance of sorts, largely due to Hong Kong Disneyland. It has the big city specials like smog, odour, 14 million elbows and an insane love of clatter. But it's also efficient, hushed and peaceful: the transport network is excellent, the shopping centres are sublime, and the temples and quiet corners of parks are contemplative oases. The best thing about being in Hong Kong is getting flummoxed and fired by the confluences and contradictions of a Chinese city with multi-Asian and Western elements.

MOROCCO
Tangier, Casablanca, Marrakesh... just the names of these cities stir a hint of spice in the nostrils. Morocco is the ideal African starting point for the traveller. An easy hop from Europe, it is hectic but friendly and stimulating as well. Open-air markets throughout the country are piled high with rugs, woodwork, jewellery and leather - said to be the softest in the world.

PERU
It's the multiple layers of great civilisations that make Peru so intriguing. You can wander around colonial cities that have preserved the legacy of the Spanish conquistadors, visit the ancient Inca capital of Cuzco, explore the lost city of Machu Picchu and ponder the enigma of the Nazca Lines. It also has some of the most spectacular and varied scenery in South America.

RUSSIA
A composite of the extravagant glories of old Russia and the drab legacies of the Soviet era, it's a country that both befuddles and beguiles. This is a land of snow and deadly winters, but also of rivers that meander across meadows and a midsummer sun that never sets. Its people, in the words of a Russian proverb, 'love to suffer', yet they also love to party and can be disarmingly generous and hospitable.

TAHITI
For more than 200 years, Tahiti has represented the tropical-paradise myth for Europeans. It's French Polynesia's biggest, most famous and historically interesting island. People come for it’s stylish resorts, chalk-white beaches shaded by swaying palm trees and over-water bungalows. A long way to travel? Not for those looking for a spot of paradise perhaps.

VIETNAM
Most visitors to Vietnam are overwhelmed by the sublime beauty of the country's natural setting: the Red River Delta in the north, the Mekong Delta in the south and almost the entire coastal strip are a patchwork of brilliant green rice paddies tended by women in conical hats. There are some divine beaches along the coast, while inland there are soaring mountains, some of which are cloaked by dense, misty forests.

For flights and holidays to all these destinations contact Flight Centre on 0870 499 0042 (www.flightcentre.co.uk)

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