Intrepid Travel has released its annual Not Hot List, highlighting 10 under-the-radar destinations that could benefit from increased tourism, while deliberately excluding more frequented locations like Australia. The list aims to draw attention to less visited places around the globe as a countermeasure to overtourism, which continues to concentrate on a small fraction of destinations.

According to Intrepid managing director Brett Mitchell, approximately 80 percent of travelers concentrate on just 10 percent of global destinations, with countries such as France, Spain, the United States, Turkey, and Italy dominating international tourist arrivals. He noted that social media platforms have amplified this trend by perpetuating the popularity of certain hotspots, often masking overcrowding through the use of artificial intelligence tools that remove other visitors from photographs.

“Our goal with this list is to highlight places that are often overlooked but hold remarkable appeal,” Mitchell said, emphasizing the importance of distributing tourism benefits more broadly to local communities. He added that increasing traveler distribution from the current 80 percent to 90 percent of global destinations would have positive economic and social impacts.

The Not Hot List is curated using three main criteria: destinations that see fewer tourists compared to similar sites, those with adequate infrastructure and capacity to welcome more visitors, and places with improved connectivity or significant events creating new travel incentives.

This year’s top choice is Kenya’s Samburu National Reserve, recognized for offering a more personal wildlife encounter compared to East Africa’s more crowded parks. The Georgian town of Mestia, located near the Russian border, ranks second. Other highlighted destinations include Jordan’s Northern Highlands, Whitehorse in Canada’s Yukon territory, Alonnisos in Greece, Dili in East Timor, the Pekoe Trail in Sri Lanka, Liepaja in Latvia, the Carretera Austral route in Chile, and Dalsland in Sweden.

Previous editions of the list have highlighted locations such as Pakistan’s Gilgit-Baltistan region, Kyrgyzstan’s Tien Shan Mountains, and the trans-Mongolian railway, all of which have since experienced increased tourist interest.

With tourism patterns shifting, the Not Hot List aims to inspire travelers to explore new and less crowded destinations while helping to alleviate the pressures on traditional tourist hubs.