From Sri Lanka to Sápmi: Signature’s Insider Guide to the 12 Places to Watch in 2026
Advisors looking beyond the usual suspects will find inspiration in 12 places spotlighted at Signature’s Owners’ Meeting, from Uzbekistan’s Silk Road cities to Alaska’s untapped adventures.
Bukhara, Uzbekistan. Photo: Evgeny Matveev/Unsplash
At Signature Travel Network’s Owners’ Meeting in San Diego, Ignacio Maza delivered a challenge to advisors: Stop sending clients to the same overcrowded places. The founder of Wandermaza and Signature’s senior advisor for luxury travel initiatives, Maza has spent more than four decades shaping the industry.
“Seventy percent of visitors to Italy last year went to one percent of the landmass,” he noted. “As travel sellers, we have to work harder at presenting new ideas.”
For 2026, his recommendations span the globe, united by four principles: Destinations should be interesting, genuine, beyond the ordinary, and offer experiences clients can’t find anywhere else. “There’s a great hunger for new destinations,” Maza said. “If you show people something interesting enough, they will go, no matter how complicated it is to get there.”
Here are the 12 places he believes deserve advisor attention now.
Alberta, Canada
Instead of relying on the familiar Rockies, Maza points to quieter corners of Alberta.
Waterton Lakes National Park, just across the border from Glacier, offers “endless carpets of wildflowers” in spring and spectacular golden larch in fall. Near Edmonton, Métis Crossing invites travelers into a culture born of Indigenous and early settler traditions, with glass-roofed lodges that double as stargazing observatories.
Advisors can also position Alberta as a smart-value winter destination, where the strong U.S. dollar makes Banff and Lake Louise even more attractive for ski travelers.
Quintana Roo and the Yucatán Interior, Mexico
While most visitors plant themselves on a Riviera Maya beach, Maza urges going inland. Colonial towns like Valladolid, Maya sites such as Ek’ Balam and Calakmul, and Bacalar’s “seven shades of blue” lake add cultural and natural depth to a trip.
Cenote swims, 16th-century convents, and the second-tallest pyramid in the Maya world at Cobá all broaden the experience. As he put it, “Don’t just sit on a beach chair—mix it up.”
Chile
Chile’s diversity makes it a perennial favorite for Maza, but he stresses the need to look beyond Torres del Paine.
The Atacama Desert, “the highest, driest desert in the world,” offers lunar landscapes and world-class stargazing. In the Lake District, the perfectly conical Osorno volcano rises above glacial lakes, while Rapa Nui remains one of the most remote inhabited islands in the world.
Small-ship cruises through Tierra del Fuego, where glaciers calve into silent fjords and penguins crowd the shores, deliver the kind of unplugged immersion his clients increasingly crave.
The Far North: Sápmi (Norway, Sweden, and Finland)
Travelers in search of wide-open space will find it in Sápmi, home to the Indigenous Sámi people. Their reindeer herding traditions stretch back 10,000 years, and cultural encounters remain authentic and unscripted.
Here, accommodations are as memorable as the landscapes: the mirrored cubes and UFO-like pods of Sweden’s Treehotel, the floating Arctic Bath, and the ICEHOTEL, which is rebuilt each winter from river ice. Pair these with aurora chasing, husky sledding, or summer hiking under the midnight sun for itineraries that feel far removed from Europe’s crowds.
Madrid and Castile, Spain
Madrid, Maza argues, is a capital that constantly reinvents itself.
The Royal Collections Gallery and the soon-to-reopen Sorolla Museum add to Madrid’s ever-growing roster of must-see museums, while neighborhood markets like Mercado de la Paz showcase everyday life far from the selfie-sticks of San Miguel. Beyond the city, Ávila’s medieval walls and the palace at La Granja are both within an hour’s reach.
His advice is simple: “The best thing in Madrid is to get lost in different neighborhoods without a map. That’s where you find the best places.”
KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
For clients who’ve already ticked off Cape Town and Kruger, KwaZulu-Natal offers a different side of South Africa. The Drakensberg mountains rise to 11,000 feet, iSimangaliso Wetland Park shelters hippos and crocodiles, and the Indian Ocean coast stretches for miles.
What makes the province distinctive, Maza said, is its strong connection to the Zulu people: “This is the home of the Zulu, one of South Africa’s 11 official languages. Meeting the community and seeing their traditions firsthand is unforgettable.”
Uzbekistan
Central Asia is having a moment, and Uzbekistan leads the charge. “Samarkand, Bukhara, Khiva—these cities are extraordinary. You feel like you’re traveling 700 years ago, without the crowds,” Maza said.
Expanding high-speed rail makes moving between Silk Road cities seamless, while e-visas and new hotels have made logistics easier than ever. Between luminous blue-tiled mosques, ancient caravanserais, and bustling bazaars, Maza found it “the only place in decades where people wanted to take pictures with me,” a testament to the warmth of its people.
Sri Lanka
Few places pack as much variety into such a small footprint as Sri Lanka. “It’s the size of West Virginia, and in two hours you can go from the beach to the mountains to a national park,” Maza said.
Clients can climb Sigiriya’s rock fortress, safari for elephants and leopards, wander colonial Galle, and then retreat to the tea plantations of the Central Highlands. His favorite stay remains Ceylon Tea Trails, a collection of restored plantation bungalows. “Everyone waits on you hand and foot—for about $500 a night. Incredible value.”
Kyushu, Japan
While Japan’s crowds concentrate on Tokyo and Kyoto, Kyushu offers a quieter, warmer alternative. Known as Japan’s “Mediterranean,” the island combines volcanic landscapes with rich culture and history.
Nagasaki, marking the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombing in 2025, remains deeply moving with its Peace Park. Hot springs are everywhere, especially in Beppu, where travelers can try a geothermal sand bath. For repeat Japan clients, Maza considers Kyushu a revelation.
Tasmania, Australia
Tasmania, roughly the size of Ireland but with a tenth of the population, remains one of Australia’s most unspoiled corners. Nearly half the island is wilderness, with highlights that include Freycinet’s Wineglass Bay, Cradle Mountain Lodge, and Hobart’s edgy MONA museum.
On the west coast, new small catamaran expeditions have opened up fjord-like landscapes once unreachable by road. Pairing the capital’s food scene with coastal lodges and rugged adventure creates what Maza calls “a complete Tasmanian immersion.”
North Island, New Zealand
While the South Island draws most of the attention, Maza highlights the North for its cultural depth. “Eighty-five percent of all Māori live on the North Island,” he said, making it the best place for authentic encounters.
Adventure comes in many forms: the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, a 12-mile trek across volcanic terrain; sandboarding down 300-foot dunes in the far north; or sailing the Bay of Islands. Add geothermal Rotorua and Wellington’s artsy capital vibe, and the North Island can more than hold its own.
Anchorage and South-central Alaska
Maza finished with a case for Anchorage as more than a cruise gateway. Within 30 minutes, travelers can be dog-mushing, hiking on a glacier, or cycling coastal trails—yet return to the city for dinner.
Winter brings the aurora, visible without trekking to Fairbanks. At Alyeska, the tramway climbs 2,500 feet for sweeping valley views. “It’s unforgettable,” he said. For clients short on time, Anchorage delivers Alaska’s big landscapes with boutique-city convenience.
