Americas
America has its tourist sights trained on the one remaining Caribbean classic it has yet to conquer: Cuba. The impediment - the US trade embargo imposed in 1962 after the country's communist revolution - has been looking shaky since President Obama's election. So how long before the island gets a saccharine coating for Uncle Sam's consumption? In September, Obama extended the Trading with the Enemy Act (which covers the Cuban sanctions) for at least another year. For now, the world's most famous time warp stays frozen in the 1950s.
It will only take your first glimpse of Havana's old town from the leather seat of a vintage Buick or Chevrolet, windows down, radio blaring, taxi driver more interested in waving to friends than observing the highway code, and you'll be hooked. The coralline stone of its Spanish colonial architecture may be crumbling, but that adds poignancy, as does the occasional graffiti in praise of Castro.
Havana has its exhibitions, shops and baroque beauties, including the Cathedral de San Cristobal, but, really, it is a place to hang out in glorious plazas, watching old men play dominos, or sipping a mojito in a bar. Once the sun sets, it comes alive. At the Casa de la Musica nightclub in affluent Miramar, the men are moody and the women magnificent. The Malecon promenade is where the locals go, armed with a bottle of Havana Club rum because they can't afford a £4 cocktail in Hemingway's second home, El Floridita. They sit on the sea wall, chat, sing, shoo away yet another stray dog.
At Megano, one of the closest stretches of beach to Havana, I joined a Saturday convoy of vintage bangers and horsedrawn carts heading for its white sand and Tiffany-blue water. Each group staked out a palm tree, the mothers fussed over the food, the kids waded into the water or played volleyball, the teenage boys showed off their six-packs. Lithe bikinied girls pretended not to notice, while dads chain-smoked and traced the beat of the salsa with their free hands. That's real Cuba - how soon will it be just a memory?
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The Ultimate Travel Company (020 7386 4646, theultimatetravelcompany.co.uk) has a week in Havana, flying with Virgin, from £952pp, B&B. Five nights in Havana, B&B, and five on Cayo Largo, all-inclusive, costs from £1,345pp. Upgrade to premium economy from £523, upper class from £1,511 (virgin-atlantic.com)
Marrakesh
Of all the countries in the region, Morocco has been busiest developing new hotels. Marrakesh is the focus of much of this attention but the adventurous will find new small hotels and riads in other areas too.
Mandarin Oriental's first African hotel, the Jnan Rahma (mandarinoriental.com/marrakech), is a 161-room extravaganza set amid palm groves outside Marrakesh. Sovereign (0871 664 0227, sovereign.com) is offering five nights at the hotel in late June from £689pp, B&B, including flights from Gatwick and transfers.
Meanwhile, fashionista Fadila el Gadi has created the modern Bab hotel in Gueliz, the French colonial part of town. It has doubles from £95, B&B, including taxes (00 212 524 435 250, babhotelmarrakech.com).
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The Mazagan Beach Resort is on the Atlantic coast 60 miles south of Casablanca. Developed by Sol Kerzner, it has 500 rooms, an 18-hole Gary Player golf course and a casino. Elegant Resorts (01244 897 516, elegantresorts.co.uk) is offering seven nights there, from February 12, for £845pp B&B, including flights and transfers.
Rebali, in Sidi Kaouki, is a cluster of six riads, with pools, a hammam and tennis court, near Essaouira. You can rent by the house or the room - rooms cost from £80, B&B. Book through Fleewinter (020 7112 0019, fleewinter.com).
And high in the Rif mountains, among the pale-blue houses of Chefchaouen, you'll find the boutique riad Dar Gabriel (dargabriel.com). Its seven rooms (all with bathroom) are small, but so are the prices: from £28pp.
Africa
South Africa is to host next year's World Cup, which takes place from June 11 to July 11. Tickets are being sold in five phases, the third of which begins on December 5 (the day after the draw that determines the tournament's groups and fixtures); where the number of applications exceeds availability, tickets will be allocated by random selection after a draw due to take place on February 1. During the final two phases, sales will be on a first-come, first-served basis (fifa.com).
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What will not be known until next month is in which of the nine host cities the England team (and Ireland, if they qualify) will play, and when. However, the four official Fifa UK tour operators (thomsonsport.com/Football, thomascooksport.com, keithprowse.co.uk and bacsport.co.uk) offer a variety of activities in different locations, from day safaris to wine tours (call 0870 155 0044 or visit southafrica.net/2010 for information).
South Africa is the only country in Africa to grade its tourism products in terms of fair trade, and its accommodation according to whether it promotes responsible tourism (seesouthafrica.net). Operators known for ethical travel projects designed to benefit communities include Dreamcatchers (traveldreamcatcher.com) and Africa Inside Out (africainsideout.com), which can organise home stays in townships. Uthando, an NGO, arranges daily tours into Cape Town townships for about £50pp (uthandosa.org); the money funds community projects.
Normandy
Art lovers will find a four-month festival dedicated to France's best-loved artistic movement just across the Channel. The main attraction of this feast of impressionism will be the show at the Fine Arts Museum in Rouen, opening on June 4 and dedicated to the work of Monet, Gauguin and Pissarro. There will also be exhibitions devoted to Corot in Saint-Lô and Degas and Signac in Le Havre. The official website launches in January at normandie-impressioniste.fr. With Inntravel (01653 617 949, inntravel.co.uk), a three-night break in the four-star Petit Coq aux Champs, near Pont-Audemer, costs from £304pp half-board in the summer, including ferry crossing.
Shanghai
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Shanghai is preparing to host Expo 2010 (en.expo2010.cn), which will be the largest world fair ever, with more than 70m expected to visit during its six-month run. The theme is Better City, Better Life, with exhibitions from 200 countries exploring how urban living can become more eco-friendly and sustainable in the future. The centrepiece of the UK's futuristic pavilion will be Thomas Heatherwick's Seed Cathedral, a 65ft-high cube pierced with 60,000 rods containing thousands of seeds from all over the world; the Danish pavilion will have 1,500 bicycles for tourists to use, while the Saudi Arabia pavilion (which at £20m will be the show's most expensive) will have a "moon boat" shape, a roof planted with 150 date palms and be surrounded by deserts and seas. The Expo runs from May 1 to October 31: with Audley Travel (01993 838 000, audleytravel.com), a week in the city during the exhibition, staying at the Anting Villa Hotel, costs £1,100pp, B&B, including flights, transfers and excursions.
London
London gets one of its landmarks back next spring when the Savoy (the-savoy.com) reopens after a two-year, £100m refit. It's the most expensive hotel refurbishment in the capital's history and the Savoy hopes to re-establish itself as a byword for style and luxury. Some spectacular bedrooms are planned - notably the Royal Suite, on the whole of the fifth floor - and a new champagne bar. High tea will be served in a glass foyer overlooking the Thames. Double rooms will start from £350 a night. The Savoy Grill's relaunch may be upstaged later in the year by the opening of Heston Blumenthal's new restaurant at the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park (mandarinoriental.com). Ashley Palmer Watts, who has worked with Blumenthal for nine years, will lead the kitchen.