The 9 hottest international destinations of the last decade: Australia, Peru and beyond
Whether they were inspired by Game of Thrones to visit Dubrovnik, or following Barack Obama to Vietnam for the perfect noodles, travellers made these countries the places to be over the last 10 years
Now that the decade is done, we look back on the buzziest travel destinations of the 2010s.
Countries across the world – from Iceland to Croatia to Australia – kept tourists on their toes with exciting attractions and natural wonders. The debut of Instagram in October 2010, too, kept many of these destinations top of mind. If you didn’t take a picture of a mineral spring in Iceland, for instance, did you even go? (Yes, but no one would know it.)
But which ones stood out as the most talked-about? Here’s a look at the hottest destinations of the last decade and what’s made them so “hot” in the first place.
Croatia
It shouldn’t come as a surprise to any Game of Thrones fan that Croatia was a hit this last decade. The series, which premiered in 2011, transformed the already beautiful country a must-see destination. Expedia flight data shows triple-digit increases for the country’s biggest tourist spots of Dubrovnik, Split and Zagreb since 2015.
But what about the post-Game of Thrones world now that the show has wrapped after eight seasons?
“As the Game of Thrones craze peters out, Dubrovnik’s time in the limelight may come to an end, but that’s not such a bad thing,” Jay Ternavan of JayWay Travel says. “The city’s mayor has already taken steps to reduce the number of cruise ship arrivals as they focus on quality overnight visitors.”
Thailand
Fifteen years after a devastating tsunami hit southeast Asia, Thailand has recovered and made several lists of the decade’s top destinations thanks to its varied charms.