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The ‘Not Hot List 2025’ by Globetrender and Intrepid shines a spotlight on lesser-known destinations that are ready to welcome curious travellers
Description
Published in September 2024, the ‘Not Hot List 2025’ is a report by Globetrender and Intrepid that shines a spotlight on ten lesser-known destinations that are ready to welcome curious travellers.
Although many popular destinations around the world are straining under the pressure of crowds, it’s also important to remember that the sector provides a vital source of income to individuals and local businesses the world over so tourist dispersal is essential to sustainability.
Never in the short history of mass tourism has there been a greater need for responsible and respectful travel. With an endless negative news cycle, though, it’s easy to focus on the negative impacts of tourism. Let’s not forget that cultural appreciation is the best means of preventing war, and spending from visitors provides livelihoods for millions of people and their families who might otherwise struggle to find safe, legal work.
According to the World Travel and Tourism Council, the sector accounts for almost 348 million jobs globally (that’s 13.6 million more than 2019). What’s more, its economic contribution is set to reach an all-time high of US$11.1 trillion in 2024 (US$770 billion more than its previous record) – generating one in every 10 dollars worldwide.
The problem is, most tourists continue to concentrate in the same destinations, leaving the majority of the planet undiscovered. The WTTC reports that the countries with the most international visitors in 2023 were: France (89,887,440), Spain (85,168,890), Italy (57,206,900), Mexico (42,152,680) and Greece (32,508,290).
In compiling our “Not Hot List”, we also looked at which destinations that ranked low for international visitors. These included: Pakistan (839,540), Mongolia (587,260), Guyana (320,830), Ghana (1,178,890) and Uruguay (3,433,040).
In partnering with Intrepid Travel to define the 2025 “Not Hot List”, we wanted to highlight regions that have the capacity and desire to welcome more outsiders. (It didn’t seem appropriate to direct travellers to places with no infrastructure, that were geopolitically unsafe or were too small.) We also needed to avoid repeating places that had been featured in previous editions of the “Not Hot List”.
We worked with Intrepid Travel to firstly look at the destinations it is expanding into or launching new tours in, giving travellers a tangible reason (and ability) to book a trip there. We then drew on our first-hand experience of places our team of travel journalists had personally been to (such as Guyana, which was included in the ranking), as well as conducted desk-based research into lesser-known destinations that had a newsworthy “hook” for 2025.
Overall, we were looking for a list of under-appreciated destinations with a good geographical spread that both want and need to have more tourists. Indicators of this were the construction of new hotels, airports, flight routes, train links, visa-free policies and hiking trails, for example. Attention was also paid to destinations that are pleasant to visit outside traditional peak seasons or as alternatives to more popular places.
After compiling a long-list of about 35 destinations, Globetrender and Intrepid Travel narrowed down the selection to the ten that appear on “Not Hot List 2025” – some are places that Intrepid offers tours to, while others are not. To add the richness of our reporting, we also sourced commentary from experts living and working on the ground in each of these destinations. We hope that these suggestions prove inspiring to travel editors, travel providers and travellers themselves.
Jenny Southan, Editor, Founder and CEO of Globetrender
