There is something wonderful about visiting a place that’s a little off the beaten track. A place where there's less tourists, more friendly locals and that sense of finding a hidden gem.
To help inspire your next trip, Hostelworld has released a list of up-and-coming global destinations, which it found by calculating the cities and towns that saw the biggest increase in bookings from British travellers between 2017 and 2018.
South-East Asia dominates the list, with the island of Coron in the Philippines taking first place, with a 2,016 per cent increase in bookings in the past year.
Indonesia’s Nusa Lembongan came in second with a 261 per cent increase between 2017 and 2018, while Ella in Sri Lanka saw a 246 per cent increase in the same time period.
Three of the top 20 undiscovered locations could be found in Bali. As well as Nusa Lembongan, which is an island off the coast of Bali, main island destinations Canggu and Uluwatu also saw increased visitors. Indonesia sees around 390,000 British nationals visit each year, and with new destinations to explore, this number will likely rise.
Catriona Flood of Hostelworld said in a statement: "While regions such as Southeast Asia are likely to always remain popular with backpackers, young people are looking to push the geographical boundaries even further on their quest for once-in-a-lifetime experiences.
"That sense of heading somewhere others haven’t heard of is intriguing and appealing. People are often drawn to new destinations because they’re keen to come home with exciting tales of beautiful, undiscovered locations they can surprise and delight their friends or family with.”
A recent study by phone brand Huawei founds that just under half of 18 to 25-year-olds look to travel to places that their friends haven’t been, with 33 per cent saying they want to be the first to find new travel hotspots and share photos of it on social media.
Whether you travel for the ‘gram or simply to experience more of the world, these up-and-coming destinations are sure to delight.
Click through the gallery above to see the top 20 up-and-coming global destinations.
