Top travel destinations like Paris and New York get so many visitors each year that trips to these destinations can be disappointing experiences filled with crowded tourist sites, overpriced hotels, and bad restaurants.
So it makes sense that travelers are looking to other, lesser-known destinations for their next trip.
Love Home Swap compiled a list of the top 50 up-and-coming countries to watch, based on data from the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC). They compared growth figures for each country by looking at the annual growth per year figures for travel and tourism's direct contribution to the country's GDP between 2014 and 2024.
The list was dominated by countries in Africa, with Namibia taking the number one spot. Sixteen other African countries made the list, including Zambia (No. 3), Angola (No. 4), and Cameroon (No. 16).
Several Asian countries also made the list, including China (No. 5), Burma (No. 7), Cambodia (No. 8), and Thailand (No. 9).
Although some of these destinations don't necessarily have the infrastructure ready yet to support tourism, they are building up hotels, restaurants, and shops that cater to foreign visitors and promoting themselves as top tourist destinations.
See the infographic below for the full list.
