Tiwai Island in Sierra Leone is at the top of Intrepid’s annual Not Hot List, which was released today, in an effort to showcase under-the-radar destinations ready to welcome new visitors.
“The Not Hot List is our way of shining a light on places that don’t usually make the headlines but absolutely should,” Intrepid’s Managing Director for Australia and New Zealand Brett Mitchell told travelBulletin.
According to the tour operator, Tiwai Island is in the midst of a transformative 10-year tourism strategy to attract visitors to its untamed landscapes, rare flora and fauna and rich culture.
It was also recently inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage site.
The destinations on the Not Hot List were selected based on criteria such as having less visitation and lower awareness compared to other countries and demonstrating tourism readiness, with new initiatives in place to support new visitors and promote tourism.
According to Erica Kritikides, General Manager of Experiences at Intrepid Travel, 80% of travellers visit just 10% of the world’s tourism destinations.
“While some destinations receive millions – even tens of millions – of visitors each year, many lesser-known places go virtually unnoticed by travellers,” she said.
“A key consideration when we’re developing trips is how we can spread the economic benefits of tourism more widely and how our presence in a destination can positively impact the communities we’re visiting.”
According to Mitchell, based on last year’s Not Hot List, Mongolia is up 118% in bookings and Greenland has jumped 700%.
“The list is really about encouraging travellers to spread the benefits of tourism more widely and travel to some of the under-the-radar destinations that are ready for more attention,” he said.
Below is the complete list:
- Tiwai Island, Sierra Leone
- Tien Shan Mountain Range, Kyrgyzstan
- Sierra Norte, Mexico
- Vis Island, Croatia
- Gaziantep, Türkiye
- Arunachal Pradesh, India
- Via Transilvanica, Romania
- Ruta de las Flores, El Salvador
- Oulu, Finland
- Great Basin National Park, Nevada, United States
To further support tourism development in these countries, Intrepid has launched new trips to six destinations on the Not Hot List, including Sierra Leone, Kyrgyzstan, Mexico, Turkey, India, Romania and El Salvador.
