Hong Kong will welcome the most significant event on the Chinese calendar and Hong Kong’s grandest festival for 2011, the “Year of the Rabbit,” with spectacular activities. Traditionally, the Year of the Rabbit is associated with home, family, artistic pursuits, diplomacy and peace -- auguring tranquility and blessings for the year ahead -- so there is no more fitting way to kick off the new year than with spectacular light shows, fireworks, elaborate floats and creative performances, and the company of family and friends.

Anguilla’s air and sea ports recorded “significantly increased levels of traffic in the days leading up to and beyond the traditional holiday period,” according to officials at the Anguilla Tourist Board (ATB), which attributed increased traffic at Clayton J. Lloyd International Airport to an increase in scheduled flights into the destination with established carriers combined with the launch of scheduled service by Cape Air in December.

The Aruba Tourism Authority has announced that the island continued to ‘buck the trend’ in the Caribbean in 2010, with another record year in terms of UK visitor numbers. More than 14,500 British holidaymakers visited the destination in 2010, 26.3 percent more than the 11,500 who travelled to the island in the previous year.

Americans are venturing out again as they start to shake off the recession. That may be good for their spirits, but it’s bad for their bank accounts. As more people travel, flights, cruises and hotel rooms get more expensive. Expect to pay more for your vacation this year, industry experts say.

Looking for the best gay-friendly spot for your next holiday? Thinking San Francisco, London or New York? Think again, say some of the world’s leading travel agencies, and look beyond the obvious. Here’s what the industry thinks are five of the best up-and-coming, gay-friendly tourist hotspots, in all corners of the world and for every budget.

Bubbling from the bullish holiday arrivals which saw resorts across the country recording an average of 90 percent occupancy rate, the Turks and Caicos Islands Hotels and Tourism Association (TCHTA) is aiming for a ten percent increase this year in stopover visitors over the 2009/2020 winter season.