The 10 least visited countries – from Montserrat to Micronesia – are remote, welcoming and well worth the journey
- Most of the 10 destinations are island nations, offering empty tropical beaches, surf breaks and world-class diving and fishing
- Remote and difficult to get to, all are well worth the journey for the scenery, the warm welcome, and the peace and quiet
France generally gets more annual visitors than any other country (80 million-plus, at the last count), followed by Spain and the United States. But what about nations where visitor arrivals barely scrape past four figures?
With one exception, the top – or bottom – 10 least-visited nations (excluding those closed to visitors because of conflict or other political ructions) are all on remote islands. And each has something exceptional to offer beyond the obvious bragging rights.
1. Tuvalu
Annual visitors: 3,700, according to United Nations World Tourism Organisation figures
7.1095° S, 177.6493° E
“Tuvalu found a special place in my heart,” he says. “I have rarely seen such a social and actively engaging culture anywhere in the world. The people get together at every opportunity and value social activities over staring into a phone. I visited all nine utterly idyllic islands, which is nearly unheard of among visitors.
Tragic to say, within the foreseeable future, Tuvalu might succumb to climate change and rising sea levels – but there is definitely something well worth preserving here. Tuvalu’s gold is its people.”
Fiji Airways flies from Nadi International Airport in Fiji to Funafuti, the capital of Tuvalu, thrice weekly.
2. Marshall Islands
Annual visitors: 6,100
7.1315° N, 171.1845° E
Beran Island Resort, which lies west of the Marshalls’ capital, Majuro, puts the X into “exclusive” – and “exorbitant”. The resort can sleep just 16 guests, and the all-inclusive price for a seven-night stay tops a reported US$50,000.
If the Marshall Islands are deemed to be pretty much at the ends of the Earth, Beran – which is owned by Australian seafarer Martin Daly – is at its very furthest extremity. It is here that anyone with an itch (and the cash) to play five-star Robinson Crusoe can live out their fantasy.
Giff Johnson, who has written extensively about the Marshall Islands, adds: “Basically, Beran caters to the sort of people with their own private jets who want an island to themselves surfing, fishing and doing other water sports with nobody else around. But truth to be told, there are numerous other islands around this watery nation that are less expensive and where the scenery is just as pristine!”
United Airlines flies to Majuro International from Honolulu and Guam.
3. Niue
Annual visitors: 10,200
19.0544° S, 169.8672° W
Here is yet another sparsely inhabited, beyond-the-back-of-beyond Pacific island: however, Niue has the good fortune of having Clarke Gayford – partner of former New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern and television presenter – as one of its most prominent advocates.
As might be expected from the face of a travel show called Fish of the Day, it is the angling off Niue that acts as the hook here. Gayford, who habitually poses with an outsize fish in his arms and a rod clamped between his teeth, says: “I’ve line caught or speared blue marlin, wahoo, giant trevally, blue fin trevally, barracuda, green jobfish, yellowfin tuna, mahimahi and dogtooth tuna here, and because the water shelves so quickly, I’ve nabbed some of these just metres from the wharf.”
Anyone not so keen on fishing can explore the island’s well-marked trails, while migrating humpback whales put on an offshore spectacle from July to October.
Air New Zealand flies to Niue from Auckland either once or twice a week, depending on the season.
4. Kiribati
Annual visitors: 12,000
1.8369° N, 157.3768° W
A couple of years before the new millennium, Kiribati – pronounced “kiribas” – came up with a cunning marketing wheeze. Having shifted the International Date Line so that all the nation’s 33 atolls fell within one time zone, it declared that the one formerly known as Caroline would in future be called Millennium.
This made it the first location to see the start of the year 2000, and focused global attention on the danger that all coral islands faced from global warming.
The BBC dispatched its star reporter, John Simpson, to cover the sunrise on January 1. He later wrote: “For the first time, I understood what an atoll was […] this was one of the world’s great wonders: an uninhabited Pacific island so glorious that your heart leapt at the sight of it. At once, all the islanders who had travelled with us started to clap their hands and sing a hymn in its praise.”
Fiji Airways maintains an occasional service from Nadi International Airport to Kiribati.
5. Micronesia
Annual visitors: 18,000
7.4256° N, 150.5508° E
Micronesia’s 2,000 islands are spread over 7 million sq km. Prospective travellers short of time and with limits to their wanderlust could do a lot worse than pick Palau, which enjoys an especially good reputation for diving. Lantau-based freelance graphic designer Aira Fernando has visited frequently over the years.
“First and foremost, my trips were always really fun from start to finish. Despite being so remote, there were lots of things to do. I went diving, and rented a car and drove around the main island.
“I went fishing, too, and back at the hotel, the chef made absolutely perfect sashimi out of my catch, which couldn’t have been fresher, of course. There was usually some sort of cultural show after dinner, and everywhere I found the people were so, so welcoming. I made friends who I’ve stayed in touch with ever since – I’d really love to go back.”
Palau International can be accessed from Guam, Manila and Taipei.
6. Montserrat
Annual visitors: 19,300
16.7425° N, 62.1874° W
It has been said that George Martin, The Beatles’ legendary producer, was so impressed by Hong Kong’s can-do ethos after their concert here in 1964 that he decided to find an island where he could set up a recording studio.
The result was AIR, which finally opened in Montserrat, in the Caribbean, in 1979, a haven of hush and creativity where rock stars such as The Rolling Stones, The Police, Elton John and Sheena Easton could work on albums with no interruptions from the outside world. Many, including Midge Ure, liked the island so much that they bought a property there, or rented a holiday villa.
Disaster struck in 1995, when the Soufrière Hills volcano began to erupt, forcing more than 2,000 residents to evacuate. Today, AIR lies in ruins, but an island-wide reconstruction programme is under way and VisitMontserrat.com valiantly promotes its Buried City Tour, wildlife watching, hiking and much else besides.
Planes and ferries connect from neighbouring Antigua daily.
7. Solomon Islands
Annual visitors: 29,000
9.6457° S, 160.1562° E
Why would anyone fly from Hong Kong to the Solomon Islands to surf when somewhere like Bali is a lot closer?
It’s out-of-this-world class, not only due to the stunning breaks and scenery, but also because there are usually no more than a handful of other surfers. According to one devotee, “It’s like riding a wave on the edge of the world.”
The Solomon Islands are calm again after the capital, Honiara, was beset by civil unrest in 2021. The country is spread over 900 islands, and attracts not just surfers, but also military history buffs retracing World War II battles and Instagrammers fascinated by Kavachi, an underwater volcano. There is a sizeable Chinese population, too, part of a Pacific-wide diaspora.
Andrew Leung, who emigrated from Hong Kong in 1962 and now runs the Dynasty Seafood Restaurant in downtown Honiara, says many locals have fallen for Chinese food. “They’ve even started to buy oyster and soy sauce to use in their cooking at home, so the Solomons have become a true cultural melting pot.”
Solomon Airlines connects to 10 cities in Australia.
8. São Tomé and Príncipe
Annual visitors: (34,900)
0.1864° N, 6.6131° E
São Tomé and Príncipe’s (St Thomas and Prince) dark past as a slave station in the Gulf of Guinea, off the west coast of Africa, stands in stark contrast to its current status as a nowhere-near-the-beaten track holiday destination. Visitors are drawn by the two islands’ beaches, snorkelling, fishing and jungle trails, as well as that intangible edge-of-the-world ambience.
Monika Liechti holidayed here with her husband, Christian, an IT specialist for Swiss Re formerly based in Hong Kong, and their preteen children, Mia and Yann, in 2018.
“We travelled with relatives who were based in Ghana – it was one of our most beautiful travel experiences ever,” she says. “As well as the gorgeous landscapes, I remember a delicious gourmet seafood dinner that only cost €30 [HK$255], and visiting a small factory to learn how chocolate is made. As you might imagine, the kids still talk about it!”
TAP Air Portugal has the most reliable service, from Lisbon.
9. Comoros
Annual visitors: 45,000
11.6455° S, 43.3333° E
Philippa Stockley, former marketing manager of P&O Travel in Sheung Wan, has fond memories of her first visit to Comoros.
“I flew on a working holiday to the Comores, as they then called themselves, in 1988. They were rather ambitiously billed as ‘the new Seychelles’, and the islands’ tourism industry was certainly in its infancy. The three islands were all that you’d expect of the Indian Ocean – very beautiful and very little developed.
“But Le Galawa Beach Hotel & Casino was brand new: having a job there was a huge status symbol and the staff insisted on wearing their uniform off duty and hailing guests they recognised around town.
“Large signs advertised the presence of a commodious library whose shelves were uncluttered by books; and when my husband tried to decline a steaming bowl of apple pie and custard at dinner (we were not far from the equator) a very disgruntled chef emerged from the kitchen to demand the reason why. It was all very entertaining.
“However, there was a real sense of adventure being somewhere so raw, and the beaches and snorkelling were super pristine. Not much has changed in the interim, though the hotels have upped their game somewhat.”
Kenya Airways has regular flights to Moroni/Comoros from Nairobi.
10. Guinea-Bissau
Annual visitors: 52,000
11.8037° N, 15.1804° W
Folded into a corner of West Africa between Senegal and the much larger Republic of Guinea, Guinea-Bissau – the only non-island on this list – may be small but it does have a dedicated posse of fans. Abdú Jaquité, the country’s delegate to the Macau-based trading organisation Forum Macao, says: “One of the main reasons for visiting is precisely that so few other people do – there is so much to experience, there is a lot of cultural diversity and the people are very friendly.”
Michael Grosberg, who wrote the Lonely Planet guide to the country, agrees, describing Guinea-Bissau as a “microcosm of Africa”, with multitudes of landscapes, peoples, cultures, and plant and animal life.
Many swear that the jewel in the crown is the labyrinth of tropical islands that make up the Arquipélago dos Bijagós, with its long white-sand beaches and hundreds of bird species and hippos, monkeys, chimps and buffaloes that thrive in the protected mangroves and wetlands.
TAP Air Portugal serves Guinea-Bissau from Lisbon, but there is usually a long layover in Senegal.
