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BOULDER, CO, Dec 05, 2011 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- Asia Transpacific Journeys, the leading creator of custom and group tours to Asia, is bucking typical travel trends by offering its take on 2012 Asia must-dos. The company predicts that in Asia 2012 will be a year of "complete cultural embrace" and "baby boomer bucket lists."
1. Myanmar rising - Two years since the release of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, the tide is turning in Myanmar (Burma), a destination that had long been off-limits for most travelers. Now, with new luxury hotels popping up mixed among the "Asia-of-old" feel, this relatively isolated Southeast Asian jewel is primed to follow the likes of Vietnam and India in becoming a choice travel destination. While many companies have shied away from the region, Asia Transpacific Journeys has hosted trips to this region for 18 years. As such they are the most qualified resource for Myanmar tours.
2. Bhutan on the brink of transformation - In five to ten years this ancient society will be virtually unrecognizable from the one that exists now as it has for centuries. People are seizing the last chance to see this society before it modernizes. The country perhaps best known for measuring social progress in terms of "Gross National Happiness" is a draw for the privileged few.
3. Leaving the spouse at home, but women not traveling alone - Women are leaving the house solo, but joining groups of other travelers on trips of a lifetime from Bali to Borneo while their male significant others and spouses stay behind for fishing or hunting trips. In this way a group of strangers quickly become a group of friends.
4. Local immersion - Like the study abroad program you did in college, except for an afternoon or a few days. This includes home visits and dining with families; making dumplings in the home of a Chinese family, making silk lanterns in Laos or creating traditional Indonesian puppets in Bali.
5. Supporting species through tourism - Traveling to see tigers in India, leopards and elephants in Sri Lanka or orangutans in Borneo in their natural habitats brings tourism dollars and incentives for locals to preserve species that may otherwise be used as material for turtle shell belt buckles, jewelry or coats. Check out Asia Transpacific Journeys' World Wildlife Fund trips for more details.
6. Qualifications of travel guides reaching all-time high - Armed with education from some of the world's best universities, travel guides are enjoying mainstream status as skilled professionals, experts on the world. Asia Transpacific Journey's guides hail from Oxford University and the University of Pennsylvania and speak multiple languages, including Thai, Mandarin and Cantonese.
7. Long distance double dates - Couples are traveling with other couples to far-away destinations beyond Caribbean all-inclusives to experience Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and more. They're staying in small, boutique hotels with lots of character, exploring and dining together.
8. Affordably exotic enclaves - In Asia, travelers are absorbing world-class luxuries for roughly 25% of what it costs to travel to and stay in most European tourist destinations.
9. Baby boomers' bucket list - Their nests empty, baby boomers are traveling to ends of the Earth to see iconic locales. Top on their lists are the Great Wall of China, Angkor Wat in Cambodia and India's iconic Taj Mahal.
10. Complete cultural embrace - Americans seeking relaxation in Southeast Asia are going beyond traditional vacation activities like a day at the spa and embracing the peaceful approach to everyday life that's engrained in the people of Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand.
About Asia Transpacific Journeys Since 1987, Asia Transpacific Journeys a Boulder, Colorado-based Asia travel company, has specialized in custom journeys and small-group trips to Asia and the South Pacific. A highly-astute staff committed to exceptional service and deeply insightful cultural interpretation based on first-person experience is part of what has made Asia Transpacific Journeys a Travel + Leisure 2011 "World's Best Tour Operator." The company has twice been honored with Travel + Leisure's "Global Vision Award" and is the Asia tour operator of choice for the American Museum of Natural History, The Harvard and Yale alumni associations, and the World Wildlife Fund.
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