ADVENTURE travel company Intrepid Travel has released its annual "Not Hot List", with its 2020 line-up shining a light on less-travelled areas of the Americas.
From the "Canadian Galapagos" to a fresh take on Louisiana's Mardi Gras celebrations and an oasis alternative to Machu Picchu, Intrepid says the Americas offers a wealth of travel experiences - and some of the most memorable are beyond the big cities and well-known sights.
With Australians spending more than $8 billion during trips to the Americas annually, the company says it would like to see tourism dollars dispersed to under-touristed places and communities that would really benefit from an increase in travellers.
Love the Galapagos? Try Haida Gwaii, which has about 13,000 visitors a year compared to the 225,000 who swarm the loved-up South Pacific islands.
The Haida Gwaii Islands (also known as the Queen Charlotte Islands) are a wilderness that Canada's Haida First Nations people call home. The archipelago is located beneath the Alaska panhandle just off British Columbia's northern coast. Intrepid is offering a limited-edition eight-day Haida Gwaii Islands Expedition trip in June timed to coincide with Canada's National Indigenous Peoples Month.
While many Australians will be familiar with the New Orleans Mardi Gras, they may not be aware that the whole state of Louisiana swings into party mode in the lead-up to the parade.
From Lafayette to Lake Charles, travellers can learn the traditions of Mardi Gras and see how small towns put on a parade during a tour of Louisiana, which finishes in New Orleans for the big Mardi Gras parade.
Highlights of the Lafayette Mardi Gras (which attracts about 50,000 people compared to New Orleans' 1.4 million) include a hat-and-mask class with a Lafayette local and the chance to learn about the rich history of Cajun and Zydeco music and see the largest "Fat Wednesday" costume display in the world.
Intrepid can put you on their nine-day Louisiana Mardi Gras Festival Tour in February.
As Peru's most popular tourist attraction, many people have heard of Machu Picchu, but it's the relatively unknown Huacachina that is bound to be on everyone's lips once they discover this oasis in the desert in the country's southeast.
A palm-fringed lagoon surrounded by dramatic dunes, it's like a mirage made real. The small sand city offers lively waterfront bars and hours of sand-boarding fun, with the lagoon itself said to have magical healing powers. Visitor numbers to the city are only in the tens of thousands compared to Machu Picchu's 1.5 million rubber-neckers a year.
Intrepid's 21-day Peru Encompassed trip has multiple departures to Huacachina in 2020.
In June, Canada passed legislation banning whales, dolphins and porpoises from being bred or held in captivity. Intrepid has strong animal welfare guidelines and has never supported viewing captive marine mammals, so to celebrate it is offering a new trip to view orcas at their majestic best, in the wild.
During its eight-day Discovery Islands and Orca Camp Expedition, travellers can embark on a kayaking expedition in the British Columbia wilderness including an adventure into killer whale territory in the glacial waters of Johnstone Strait. Here you can relax each night at Orca Camp on Quadra Island, with safari-style tents, hot tubs and a native sauna.
The island only sees about 85,000 people a year, while 4.5 million people flock to see marine mammals in captivity at Sea World Orlando. Trips will depart in July and September.
Los Angeles is famed for its palm trees, but with more than 48 million annual visitors why not swap that trip to Venice Beach - Southern California's second largest tourist attraction after Disneyland - for the palm-fringed beaches of Morro de Sao Paulo in Brazil, which receives only 400,000 visitors each year. During an eight-day adventure around the country's north, travellers can discover the car-free island paradise and enjoy cascading waterfalls in Bahia state's Chapada Diamantina National Park.
Intrepid Travel's Northern Brazil: Hiking & Beaches trip departures start in April. www.intrepidtravel.com/au
