Pyramids and Penguins in Top Destinations of 2006

Adventure is alive and well, according to the folks at iExplore, who announced their list of Top Ten World Travel Destinations this week, as determined by the vacation purchases of its adventure and experiential travelers. Egypt tops the list of destinations yet again this year, but Antarctica has skyrocketed from the 19th position in 2005 to #2 this year. Looks like Climate Change has made the bottom of the world a bit more accessible… Actually, the theory is that Antarctica’s popularity as a adventure destination owes much to recent films like Happy Feet and March of the Penguins. Here’s the top 10:
2006 2005
Rank Rank
1 EGYPT 1
2 ANTARCTICA 19
3 SOUTH AFRICA 6
4 PERU 2
5 CHINA 4
6 TANZANIA 17
7 INDIA 5
8 THAILAND 11
9 ITALY 8
10 ARGENTINA 14

Other destinations showing strong growth in 2006 included Costa Rica (#11) and Japan (#13). Bumped from last year’s top ten were the Galapagos Islands (#12), New Zealand (#17) and France (#43). Europe continues to suffer given the falling value of the U.S. Dollar, as compared to the Euro, making trips much more expensive to American travelers.