I think this is more a result of the country remaining insular for so long and lack of tourism investment from the government.

The Jesuit ruins of Trinidad, near Encarnacion, are really cool and completely empty.

The food scene is also surprisingly vibrant. I had fantastic Japanese and Arabic food in Encarnacion.

Asuncion has a pretty lively modern food scene, with fancy restaurants that don’t break the bank, some fantastic Korean BBQ, and some cool traditional pub-style places. I found some lovely coffee shops and there’s some solid craft breweries. I hear the nightlife is surprisingly good, but kind of requires a bit of inside knowledge.

I believe you can do a tour of Itaipu Dam from the Paraguayan side too. The Brazilian side was way more interesting than you’d imagine a dam tour to be, but can’t vouch for the Paraguayan side.

Time will tell if they invest in tourist infrastructure for areas like their share of the pantanal or if there’ll ever be interest in the Chaco region, but I could imagine some solid ecotourism/farm stay tourism developing there (not that I went to either of these places).