The Joy of Visiting Emerging Tourist Destinations

Visiting a popular holiday destination with an established tourism industry can be lots of fun. These destinations are typically easy to reach with a choice of flights, plenty of hotels available and lot of things for tourists to do.

The downside is that destinations like Paris, Barcelona or Bali are often overrun with tourists.

To be clear, these destinations are worth seeing and have a lot to offer. Many visitors thoroughly enjoy their holidays. But if you’re seeking adventure, you may instead end up feeling like part of an assembly line – seeing the same sights and participating in the same cookie-cutter holiday as millions of other tourists that have come before you.

Venice, for example, is beautiful and has a rich history. A major international airport is just a short boat ride away, so it’s relatively easy to reach. But it’s notoriously expensive and crowded. It’s also surprisingly difficult to find a restaurant in Venice that serves authentic Italian food at an affordable price – the vast majority are simply tourist traps.

Sometimes visiting a popular tourist destination outside of the peak season makes for a better experience. However, there is often a good reason that it’s off-peak – for example, if you visit the Greek Islands in winter, you’ll probably find that the weather is cold and most hotels are closed.

At the other end of the spectrum, adventure-seekers may find it very rewarding to visit countries without any sort of established tourism industry. For example, you could have a spectacular experience in places like Tajikistan, Nigeria, Bangladesh or Bahrain – especially if you happen to know some locals or have a great tour guide.

But these destinations can also be very challenging. Visas may be expensive and difficult to obtain, and there is often little infrastructure in place to support tourism as the country isn’t really expecting foreign vacationers to turn up. Once you arrive, you might not find many tourist attractions either.

Emerging destinations: A happy middle-ground?

In countries with emerging tourism industries, such as Laos, Uganda, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Greenland or Oman, you can enjoy the best of both worlds. These are not widely known as tourist destinations, but they actively want tourists – and are therefore taking steps to make it easier for people to visit.

While it might not be for everyone, Saudi Arabia has also recently taken major steps to encourage tourism as attempts to diversify its economy.

These emerging tourism countries generally don’t have arduous visa application processes. They want to make it easy, not difficult, for visitors to come. They have also built (or are in the process of constructing) infrastructure to support a growing tourism industry.

At the same time, because most people don’t consider emerging tourist destinations when booking a holiday, they usually aren’t crowded. You’ll likely have a more authentic and unique experience. Accommodation is likely to be affordable. And the locals will actually be happy to see you – rather than complaining about all the tourists!

One of my all-time favourite travel experiences was a trip to Turkestan, a historic city in Kazakhstan which is home to a world-class mausoleum that has more camels roaming around than tourists. The entrance fee was barely a couple of dollars and we almost had the place to ourselves.

You don’t necessarily have to travel to the other side of the world to enjoy this kind of experience. For example, you might get a lot out of extending a holiday to Bali to also visit another Indonesian island.

Have you found it worthwhile to travel off the beaten track? Or perhaps you have a recommendation of an emerging tourist destination to consider? Join the discussion on the Australian Frequent Flyer forum!

Matt Graham

The editor of Australian Frequent Flyer, Matt's passion for travel has taken him to over 70 countries… with the help of frequent flyer points, of course!
Matt's favourite destinations (so far) are Germany, Brazil & Kazakhstan. His interests include economics, aviation & foreign languages, and he has a soft spot for good food and red wine.

You can connect with Matt by posting on the Australian Frequent Flyer community forum and tagging @AFF Editor.