Intrepid Travel announced the release of its annual Not Hot List, highlighting 10 lesser-known destinations that are ready to welcome more visitors in 2027.
Intrepid launched five new trips to several of the featured regions. These include the new 10-day Kenya Safari Adventure, the 16-day Wild Canada & Alaska, the 10-day Hike Sri Lanka's Pekoe Trail, the 12-day Jordan Uncovered and the new 9-day Trek the Trans-Caucasian Trail in Georgia.
According to the tour operator, the 10 destinations on the Not Hot List are selected based on three key criteria: (1) being less-visited, with fewer visitors than comparable places; (2) demonstrating tourism readiness, with infrastructure and capacity to support more tourists; and (3) new initiatives, improved connectivity, major events, launches or infrastructure developments that give travellers a compelling reason to visit in 2027.
The 2027 Not Hot List includes:
Samburu National Reserve, Kenya
Mestia, Georgia
Northern Highlands, Jordan
Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada
Alonnisos, Greece
Dili, Timor-Leste
Pekoe Trail, Sri Lanka
Liepāja, Latvia
Carretera Austral, Chile
Dalsland, Sweden
The 2027 Not Hot List also highlights countries like Timor-Leste, Latvia and Georgia, which receive fewer international visitors than their regional counterparts, as well as lesser-known regions of Jordan and Sri Lanka.
"If we want tourism to continue to be a force for good, we need to constantly rethink how and where we travel. The Not Hot List isn’t just about surfacing lesser-known places, it aims to shift the conversation and help travellers to discover new destinations where their visit can make a meaningful contribution to local communities and economies," Erica Kritikides, General Manager Experiences at Intrepid Travel said.
Since the Not Hot List was first introduced in 2018, it has become a strong indicator of up-and-coming destinations.
Pakistan’s Gilgit-Baltista and Kyrgyzstan’s Tien Shen Mountain Range, which both featured on previous lists, were later recognised in The New York Times ’52 places to go’ list for 2025 and 2026 respectively. Intrepid also saw strong booking growth following the destinations’ inclusion, with travel to Pakistan increasing 67% year-on-year, while bookings for Kyrgyzstan grew by 62%.
Other featured destinations, including Sainshand in Mongolia from the 2025 list, have also experienced encouraging growth. Bookings for the Trans-Mongolian Railway Adventure, which includes two days in Sainshand, increased by 298% year-on-year from 2024 to 2025. This reflected broader tourism growth, with international arrivals to Mongolia increasing by 16% from January to September 2025, double the average growth rate across the Asia-Pacific region. This increased demand has helped create local employment opportunities, strengthen supplier partnerships and support continued investment in local operations.
The 2027 Not Hot List was informed by expert local insights from Intrepid’s destination and operations experts across 35 countries, as well as input from tourism boards, local guides and travel trend agency Globetrender.
To learn more about the destinations, download Intrepid’s 2027 Not Hot List here.
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