New research has shown food plays a huge role in how travellers choose their holiday destinations.
Which we can totally understand, seeing as food influences almost everything in our life.
The research comes from a consumer survey carried out by GlobalData and revealed that more than a quarter of travellers are influenced by local gastronomy when choosing their holiday destination.
The same survey showed that generation Z and millennials find local cuisine more influential when choosing a destination, compared to generation X and baby boomers.
“Given that people travelling abroad and in particular millennials are increasingly seeking authentic and transformative travel experiences, local cuisine provides them with a unique lens through which they can better understand the history, people and the culture of the destinations they visit,” said Konstantina Boutsioukou, consumer travel analyst at GlobalData.
“Tourism players wanting to tap into this cohort must capitalize on the rise of culinary tourism by combining gastronomy with other activities such as cultural tours and wellness activities, tailoring products that meet the demands of travellers wanting to experiment with food during their trips.”
According to GlobalData, some of the key trends redefining culinary tourism in recent years are the rise of street food and food markets, cooking lessons with locals and gastronomy tours with locals or experts. Yet, a new trend becoming increasingly influential within food tourism is home cooking and meal sharing.
Whereas local restaurants and food tours allow tourists to get a glimpse into a region’s gastronomy, they cannot compare to having the opportunity to dine in a local’s house and get to experience how a family interacts while cooking and eating together, thus, witnessing the traditions surrounding food culture first-hand.
