Food rules our minds

As if Indians being huge foodies wasn’t enough, now a majority of us want to visit various destinations to explore culinary delights. In its global research titled Taste of Travel, Booking.com found that 67 per cent of Indian travellers choose a spot based on cuisine and food. The study included 56,727 across 30 different markets, out of which 2,023 comprised Indians. The survey highlighted that about 49 per cent of holidaymakers from the country are planning to go on a dedicated food tourism trip in 2018.

When it came to popular destinations for food experiences, New Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai, Jaipur and Candolim took the top five spots. The most famous places for street food are Mumbai, Kolkata, Amritsar, Ahmedabad, and New Delhi. We asked experts in the travel industry if the same holds true for international tourism.

Food Plays A Major Role

Gastronomy dictates the way in which vacationers experience a location, and indicates that some would return to the same destination to savour its unique cuisine. “Various tourism boards and destination marketing campaigns are now focussing on the food element as a central part of its product. They seek to tap this section by promoting the culinary potential of their spot,” says Daniel D’Souza, Head of Sales, India & NRI Markets & E-Commerce, SOTC Travel.

The Food Experience

For most jet-setters, food is an extension of the journey itself and they’re quite experimental when it comes to edibles. It’s not just the grub but the entire ambience and experience. Indians love to visit Sydney Harbour, Paris, Singapore, Thailand — the cuisine capital of Asia — and Dubai, which has the highest number of Michelin star restaurants outside Europe, informs Romil Pant, Senior Vice President, Leisure travel, Thomas Cook India.

Indians Are Getting Adventurous

While travel companies do get visitors requesting for a vegetarian and Jain fare, there’s an increasing number of people who want to try the local cuisine abroad. Earlier, it used to be a problem to get vegetarian food offshores but today, there are many veg as well as vegan options along with Indian restaurants everywhere. “The Indian outbound market is growing by leaps and bounds. Hence, whilst you do have excursionists that want to stick to the safe Indian cuisine, you have companies like us, who cater to a different market for those who want to get off the beaten path and ‘see the world on a plate’. There are so many millennials who want to be adventurous in terms of food they want to try that they sometimes surprise us with their requests for curated trips,” says Yogi Shah, CEO, The Backpacker Co, who recently had a 29-year-old female lawyer wanting to have escargot (snails) and also knew which restaurant she wanted to try it at.

Food Tourism On The Rise

There’s around a 30 to 40 per cent increase in food tourism across all types of tourers, whether solo, family and couples, informs Pant. So when and how did the trend emerge for Indian trippers? He says it began sometime in 2015 with TV shows like Masterchef Australia and its versions in Canada, US, UK, etc. The credit also goes to globalisation. “Travellers started asking us for food experiences on international trips. Let’s not forget social media that plays a huge role of aspirational nature. People want to share photos of what they ate and talk about their culinary experiences in places like Barcelona, Madrid, Paris, etc. And it’s not just the millennials who want to do these things but also the globetrotters in the age group of 40 to 55, along with their families and kids,” he adds. Food tourism in our country is only going to expand in the future. And there will be no looking back!

INTERNATIONAL FOOD DESTINATIONS

Daniel D’Souza, Head of Sales, India & NRI Markets & E-Commerce, SOTC Travel, shares his top five picks:

• Thailand has a strong street food culture, with the best delights available on carts and sidewalks.
• Singapore has a varied number of options (for vegetarians and vegans alike), from food carts to high-end restaurants.
• Japan’s best chefs spend all day grilling extremely fresh ingredients in front of you, with special kinds of charcoal that can roast fresh ingredients with high heat quickly to trap all their goodness inside.
• New York is home to some of the best Michelin-star restaurants. With glorious options of desserts and food trucks, they have set a benchmark in the culinary business and is definitely a must-visit city for its food.
• France, as the French are known for their art of cooking. Eating in Paris, facing the Eiffel tower, is a dream most Indians want to live at least for a day.