What’s in store for the year 2012 in travel? Tours.com’s Travel-Intel newsletter offers a window on the year, not only in travel trends, triumphs and travails but in the year’s top new travel gadgets to go with as the year unfolds.

With the year off to a topsy-turvy start following the events at Costa Cruises this month Travel-Intel has offered up its own view of the top ten events and trends that will affect the way Americans travel. Among them: Travel-Intel predicts 2012, not only to be the year of the App, and the year Edge—as in jumping off the edge of the grid, but also the year of the rant by a consumer public finally finding its voice.

As for what electronic gear travelers will take with them when on these adventures, Travel-Intel went to the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas to find out what’s new and next for those hitting the road. If you’re thinking power-packing backpacks and chirping chargers you are right on the button.

The new issue of Travel-Intel also looks at spa vacations and presents a battery of reasons Americans need to recharge in a purposeful way. It cites the Kurtz-Ahlers & Associates collection of spas around the world and its array of value-packed packages for serious spa-goers who want to match their needs with the right spa experience.

“We had fun with this issue of Travel-Intel because January 2012 seemed to be a launching point for so many things happening in the world,” says Lark Ellen Gould, content director for Travel-Intel. “You have major changes in airline promotion tactics that will affect how people create their travel plans and how airlines manage their approach to customer service. Our feature, New Rules, for instance, clarifies these changes and lets consumers know what it means for travelers. But the airline industry is not the only industry that will be seeing changes this year. We look forward to reporting how cruise line policies may change in response to the recent Costa Cruise incident.”

Gould, a veteran travel journalist who has been covering the travel industry for more than 20 years, brings her incisive perspective to the publication and emails it on the 1st and 15th of each month to more 103,000 travel agents in the U.S. and Canada, before posting the travelzine on Tours.com and Sightseeing.com. Travel-Intel also partners with CanadaScope and Britain Magazine for easy access to added sources of information.