Intrepid flies under-the-radar with 2026 Not Hot List

Intrepid Travel is showcasing 10 lesser-known destinations ready to welcome more visitors in its 2026 Not Hot List.

The list is designed to direct curious, conscientious travellers towards regions where their presence can have an outsized positive impact. All the destinations on the list currently attract relatively few international visitors but with new investments, experiences and improved infrastructure being introduced or announced this year, they’re ready – and deserving – of more travellers.

Along with the release of its 2026 Not Hot List, Intrepid has introduced brand-new trips to six of the featured destinations, including Sierra Leone, Kyrgyzstan, Mexico, Turkey, Romania and El Salvador.

The Not Hot List was developed with insights from Intrepid’s global product and operations experts in 32 countries, alongside travel trend agency Globetrender. Using third-party statistics, trends and expert local insight, the 10 destinations were selected based on three key criteria that includes: Being less visited, with lower awareness and fewer visitors than comparable places; Demonstrating tourism readiness, with new initiatives to support and promote tourism; and With particular relevance in 2026.

The 2026 Not Hot List includes:

• 1. Tiwai Island, Sierra Leone
• 2. Tien Shan Mountain Range, Kyrgyzstan
• 3. Sierra Norte, Mexico
• 4. Vis Island, Croatia
• 5. Gaziantep, Türkiye
• 6. Arunachal Pradesh, India
• 7. Via Transilvanica, Romania
• 8. Ruta de las Flores, El Salvador
• 9. Oulu, Finland
• 10. Great Basin National Park, Nevada, United States

The 2026 list features a combination of lesser-known regions in popular tourism destinations such as Croatia and Mexico, as well as emerging countries like Sierra Leone and Kyrgyzstan, which international visitors have long overlooked.

Notable highlights include Sierra Leone’s Tiwai Island, recently inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage site; Finland’s Oulu, named European Capital of Culture 2026; and Kyrgyzstan’s Kyrgyz Nomad Trail in the Tien Shan Mountains, which has been expanded by 1,000 km.

Erica Kritikides, General Manager of Experiences at Intrepid Travel, observed: “We know that 80% of travellers visit just 10% of the world’s tourism destinations and we recognize that we have a role to play in influencing that. The selection criteria for our Not Hot List reflects an approach to tourism that we’ve long championed.”

Kritikides continued: “While some destinations receive millions – even tens of millions – of visitors each year, many lesser-known places go virtually unnoticed by travellers. 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.”

To further support tourism development in these countries, Intrepid launched brand-new trips to six destinations on the Not Hot List, including Sierra Leone, Kyrgyzstan, Mexico, Turkey, India, Romania and El Salvador.

This latest iteration of Intrepid’s Not Hot List builds on the success of last year’s list which highlighted Pakistan’s Gilgit Baltistan, later featured in The New York Times 52 places to go in 2025 list, as well as Disko Island in Greenland, with the country now on track to open two new international airports in 2026 to support tourism growth.

For more on the list, go to www.intrepidtravel.com/not-hot-list .

Photos 

Tien Shan Mountain Range, Kyrgyzstan – Credit – Liz Carlson

Enjoying a local meal in Şanlıurfa, Turkey – Credit – GoTürkiye