Go forth and travel in 2023

RESTAURATEUR Karen Cheng’s holiday plans of 2022 and 2023 read like the travel industry’s business outlook for the new year. With revenge travel kicking in this year and set to explode in the months to come, people like her are dictating what destinations and experiences will be in vogue.

“Before the pandemic, I enjoyed going to familiar cities where there were friends, interesting shops and restaurants,” says the director of eateries including Sushi Kimura and Binary. “So when the borders finally opened, my first choice was to go back. In fact, the first place I went to was Barcelona.”

But once that pent-up urge was out of the way, she set her sights on a different kind of vacation – “more unique experiences that cannot be replicated, and nature on its own without human intervention”.