In 2019, Setouchi Sea Planes will expand its scenic flights to several smaller islands and towns via Kodiak 100s. For those seeking more sybaritic forms of transport, the Guntu – more a minimalist floating ryokan than a cruise ship – with 19 walnut-clad rooms and open-air cypress soaking baths. New trails and a dedicated Shimanami bike ferry that opened in October connect Japan’s main island of Honshu to the region’s lesser-visited island of Shikoku.
One hour south via ferry or the Shinkansen bullet train, the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum reopens this spring after an eight-year refurbishment.
The Setouchi region will host the Setouchi Triennale 2019, a major art fair held in three seasonal instalments. Perhaps it would not be such a stretch to redefine the relationship between leisure travellers and their dream destinations. The idea that as visitors we should not cause harm and should seek out authentic experiences that get us deep into the local culture. The island and the other beautiful places at risk raise an urgent question: do we owe something to the places that make us happy? “This is the new normal, and people have to look at this new normal and embrace it,” says Martha Honey, executive director of the Centre for Responsible Travel in Washington DC. That is why Puerto Rico earned the number one spot on our annual list of 52 places to visit in the coming year. The cities where a combination of climate change and bad planning has resulted in devastation. The arctic spots where winter itself is under threat. Puerto Rico is representative of the many fragile places around the globe right now: the islands facing a future of sea level rise and extreme weather.
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