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NEITHER snow nor sleet nor hurricanes nor dismal dollar-euro exchange rates are discouraging Americans from making their appointed foreign rounds.

Based on statistics from U.S. airlines, 2005 looks as though it will end up as a record year for globe-trotters. Through last November, passenger volume on international flights showed a 9.4% increase from the same period in 2004.

Most of us are visiting or revisiting traditional favorites, such as Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Western Europe. But as Americans embrace foreign exploration, many are growing impatient with old places and faces. The sophisticated — or jaded — traveler wants to know what's next.

To find out, I interviewed travel agents, tour operators and the peripatetic John DiScala of www.johnnyjet.com, who says he logs more than 100,000 air miles a year gathering information for his travel website.

Among the places these experts see piquing interest in 2006:

Africa: Abercrombie & Kent, a tour company that caters to experienced, upscale travelers, last year sent 65% more clients to Africa than in 2004, said Pamela Lassers, spokeswoman for the company's North American branch. Egypt and Kenya led the way; Ethiopia is an up-and-comer.

Interest in Egypt, Lassers said, got a boost from the latest touring exhibition of treasures from Tutankhamen's tomb. The home of the boy king retains its glitter despite terrorist attacks that killed tourists in April and July.

Kenya's safaris still draw many takers, although a long-standing travel warning from the U.S. State Department cites the country's "continuing terrorist threats."

Ethiopia is "one of the culturally richest nations in Africa," Lassers said. Italy's decision last year to return an ancient granite obelisk, looted by Italian troops in 1937, helped raise Ethiopia's profile, as did the recent Imax documentary "Mystery of the Nile," which featured the country's archeological sites.

Antarctica: This remote continent is emerging as a family destination, aided by comfortable cruise ships that make it easier and safer to visit.

Its profile soared when last year's hit documentary "March of the Penguins" showcased its pristine scenery and unique wildlife.

China: New airports such as Guangzhou's Baiyun, better domestic air service and an array of luxury hotels have increased the comfort level in this vast Communist nation.

Besides tourist touchstones such as the Great Wall and the terra-cotta warriors near Xian, the outlying areas of Mongolia and Tibet attract travelers eager to experience traditional cultures before they become Westernized, Lassers said.

It's not yet clear how the recent resurgence of avian flu in Asia may affect China's popularity in 2006. Although most fatalities have been in Southeast Asia, a handful have been in China.

Eastern Europe: This is Europe without the dollar-bashing British pound and euro, and, often, without the camera-toting crowds.

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