Mountains form the backdrop to Wasilla, Alaska.
The election of a new US president and the 29th Olympic Games helped put Chicago and Beijing on the map last year, but they weren't the only spots to have fame thrust upon them in 2008.
Tripadvisor.com has rounded up eight places that made headlines over the last 12 months for a variety of reasons:
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
The city which has sprung from the desert sands of the Arabian Peninsula was often in the news in 2008. Regularly swarmed by celebrities, it has enjoyed unprecedented growth for the last few years with huge skyscrapers, luxury hotels and an indoor ski slope providing plenty for tourists to see and do.
Chicago, Illinois, USA
"If Chicago's Grant Park had a roof, the party for the 2008 election of Barack Obama would have blown it off," say the folks at Tripadvisor.com.
Home to the Buckingham Fountain (one of the world's largest) and the Art Institute of Chicago, Grant Park is both a recreational area for the people of Chicago and a place to hold the city's civic events.
Johannesburg, South Africa
Last month, attention turned to the Miss World 2008 pageant as 109 contestants vied for the sought-after crown. Images of Miss World contestants checking out the South African wildlife at Johannesburg Zoo were published across the globe.
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Sin City was bargain central during 2008, with super deals on hotels accommodation, airfares and show tickets as tourism operators tried to lure customers to the gambling mecca. As Tripadvisor.com notes however, having a flutter can still be expensive.
Wasilla, Alaska, USA
Home to the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, this Alaskan city came to prominence after Republican presidential candidate John McCain named local resident Sarah Palin as his running mate for the 2008 US election. McCain and Palin lost to Barack Obama and Joe Biden, but the mother-of-five's brief stint in the global limelight put her hometown well and truly on the map.
Le Val, Provence, France
This area in the south of France became suddenly famous when two of the world's best-known actors (Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie) moved their family into a chateau just up the road in Brignoles. Eyes were further drawn to the region when Jolie gave birth to the couple's twins - Knox Leon and Vivienne Marcheline - in a Nice hospital in July.
Beijing, China
The August Olympic Games drew attention to Beijing, which put on a spectacular event, beginning with an opening ceremony unlike any ever seen before. For those tourists who'd had their fill of sport, one of the world's most famous landmarks - the Great Wall of China - was just on the doorstep.
Oslo, Norway
Last October the newly-opened Olso Opera House won the culture award at the World Architecture Festival in Barcelona. A brief on the opera house's design said it connected "city and fjord, urbanity and landscape".
For tourists visiting the Norwegian capital, Tripadvisor.com also recommends a visit to the Akker Brygge - a shipyard reincarnated as a shopping mall.
- NZ HERALD STAFF