Travelers will be getting lots of deals in 2009

— -- Wallet-watching travelers will be taking fewer trips, waiting longer to book them in hopes of a deal and downscaling vacations.

Las Vegas will remain a big draw, and Mexico will be hotter than a chili pepper.

That's the outlook for 2009, according to travel analysts and providers and a survey of 547 agents, managers and agency owners with Travel Leaders (formerly Carlson Wagonlit Travel Associates), out today.

Vegas is the No. 1 U.S. destination Americans are booking (as it was last year), the survey says, followed by Orlando. Perhaps fueled by Obama fever, the Abraham Lincoln bicentennial and a Harry Potter exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago (No. 10) is more of a tourists' kind of town. It moved into the top 10 "for the first time in years," says Travel Leaders spokesman Steve Loucks.

Internationally, Caribbean cruises rule yet again, but dollar-stretching Mexico has five destinations in the top 10: Cancun, No. 2; Riviera Maya, No. 3; Puerto Vallarta, No. 4; Cabo San Lucas/Los Cabos, No. 9; and Mexican cruises (tied for No. 10). Additionally, some Caribbean cruises call at Mexican ports.

"You've got so many" new resorts in Mexico, and there are some exceptional values, Loucks says. He also cites increased interest in China, Mediterranean cruising and European river cruises.

At Apple Vacations, famed for value getaways in the Caribbean and elsewhere, Mexico remains popular. Huatulco on the Pacific Coast is an up-and-coming destination, with lots of new hotel rooms, says Apple marketing vice president Sandy Babin.

Jamaica is "getting a lot of renewed attention, most likely because of all the new hotels cropping up," she says. Well-regarded all-inclusive brands with a presence in Mexico and the Dominican Republic (such as Riu and Iberostar) have new Jamaican properties and offer rates as low as $1,000 a person a week, including airfare and all you can eat and drink.

Meanwhile, well-heeled travelers are "taking a step back" and downgrading, says Roland Largay, chairman of Southbury, Conn.-based Largay Travel, who recently was named agent of the year by Travel Agent magazine.