Travel + Leisure Magazine has asked the question, “What makes a place worth visiting right now?” For the second time in less than a month a major travel publication is adding our region of the world as being a red hot travel destination, this time “The 50 Best Places to Travel in 2020.”
It was back at the beginning of December that the Conde Nast Traveler put Michigan’s Great Southwest on a short list of The 20 Best Places to Go in 2020 with a tight focus on our home as among the hottest destinations to hit in the New Year — one of only two destinations in America to make the list of exotic ports of call.
This time Travel + Leisure has a broader list of 50 destinations, and the target in our region encompasses the entire Great Lakes region, but again, out of 50 ports of call only 7 are on American soil. The Great Lakes appear at #22 on the list of 50. Other American destinations include Asheville, North Carolina, Hawaii, Boston, California’s Central Coast, Maine and Oklahoma City.
The magazine’s other world targets are impressive ranging from St. Barts to Qatar, from the Turks & Caicos to Japan and Malyasia…and from Austria, Australia and Rome to Singapore, Chile and the United Kingdom.
The magazine says they asked themselves what it is that makes a place worth visiting, “Is it a show-stopping hotel? A once-in-a-lifetime celebration? A critical mass of game-changing restaurants?”
They tell us that to get the definitive answers they were seeking regarding the best vacation spots of the moment they “hit the books, scouring tourism stats, scoping out major events, charting new flight routes, and logging hotel debuts.”
Additionally, they survey a vast network of travel experts, trusted writers, hospitality insiders, and other industry pros to see what places they have their eyes on.
The resulting list is impressive, and you can see it by clicking the link below.
Travel writers Emma Balter pitches the Great Lakes as “The next hot cruise destination,” and adds, “Believe it.” She tells readers, “The five lakes collectively offer 11,000 miles of attraction-packed shoreline, and new small ship cruises are making it easier to explore.” She details some of the options for cruising, and cites destinations including Mackinac Island, Chicago, Cleveland and Milwaukee,” as she encourages the public to make their way all around the Great Lakes region.
Cornerstone Alliance President Rob Cleveland was among the first to share the good news, so I reached out to see what he felt about the newest welcome mat being tossed out to the public. He says, “We have been a part of several of these lists recently. While we won’t ever take this great recognition for granted, we also shouldn’t be surprised to find ourselves on this list.”
Cleveland adds, “If you read the lead-in for the chosen locations, you’ll find their list of criteria, where they mention ‘show-stopping new hotels, once-in-a-lifetime celebrations, critical mass or game changing restaurants,’ and they are inclusive of both solo travel, as well as family vacationing. Each of these things they list describe the amenities we have in Michigan’s Great Southwest.”
Those include things like the Harbor Shores Resort community, the Inn at Harbor Shores, restaurants like Houndstooth and others, and events like the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship at the Harbor Shores Golf Club, among many other great amenities that have driven Cleveland’s team to promote their #VacayEveryDay encouraging people to relocate to Michigan’s Great Southwest to enjoy the lifestyle every day.
Here’s the link to the entire article:
https://www.travelandleisure.com/trip-ideas/best-places-to-travel-in-2020
