Sunny Skies Ahead.(International Edition; SPECIAL REPORT: TRAVEL)(some travel destinations are not affected by the global recession)

Byline: Ginanne Brownell

Buoyed by their faithful clientele, certain destinations seem immune to the effects of the global recession.

The only crash that seems to be hitting Miami Beach these days is that of azure waves lapping against sand. The art deco skyline along the beachfront is changing at a furious pace. A new multistory W opens in June that will include a branch of the high-end Asian-fusion restaurant chain Mr. Chow. New York's cool Hotel Gansevoort just launched a South Beach outpost, and Canyon Ranch has recently debuted a new hotel and condo complex close to the historic Fontainebleau, which reopened last year after a $1 billion face-lift. Next year Philippe Starck's Ritz Plaza hotel will debut on the beach, and the St. Regis Resort & Residences will open their doors in the tony suburb of Bal Harbour--where, incidentally, fashionistas are snatching up creations by Valentino and Cartier at the Bal Harbour Shops like it was 1999. At the Delano and Shore Club hotels, staff are wearing black Tashirts that at first glance appear to read RECESSION. But on closer inspection, it's clear what they really say: RECESS IS ON.

Recess, it seems, is always on in Miami Beach and certain other destinations--Aspen, St-Tropez, Marbella and Capri, to name a few--that appear remarkably untouched by the global recession. The number of visitors to the Swiss ski resort Gstaad this past season ranked among the highest of the last 10 winters. On Mustique, the private Caribbean island, bookings have held steady and the amount people are spending is up from last year. "It would take a lot for our typical guests to say, 'We are not going to come this year'," says Linda Bruno of the Mustique Co. While no place is immune from economic dips, the locales that have historically drawn the posh and the privileged do exhibit a stronger degree of resilience than most. "You can almost go around the world and certain destinations just won't be affected because of their popularity," says Jeremy Sutton of the agency Quintessentially Travel. "Unless something very severe happens in the global market, ...