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Food and beverage tours will be in fashion

(Photo: Pexel)

Indians to travel to experience culinary culture and cuisine, reveals report

By IANSlife

November 09, 2022 (IANSlifeIn addition to its rich cultural heritage, India offers tremendous potential for culinary tourism thanks to its varied culinary regions and flavor profiles. Traveling to discover food ­­­ has caught the attention of avid travelers who want to explore new cuisines. A decade ago, India had little experience with the market for culinary tourism but today the Culinary Tourism sector is at the cusp of an explosion as the Indian traveler embarks on a journey to savor the richness of local cuisines we have on offer in the country! And it’s not just Indians, travelers from all over the world are flocking to India to try authentic Indian cuisine and experience it firsthand.

Almost 90 percent Godrej Food Trends Report 2022 respondent panel predicted an undeniable hunger for travel experiences centered around culinary culture and cuisine. The pandemic cut travel out completely in 2020 – 21. And even while consumers were homebound, and assuaging their need for new flavors by cooking from regional and global cuisines, they were chalking out bucket lists of places to visit and foods to taste when things improved. And now the time has come to start checking all those items off!

Some key findings that have emerged for 2022 are:

  • CULINARY TOURISM - 87.1 percent of food experts predicted people will travel more to experience culinary culture and cuisine. There is increased demand for travel experiences centered around culinary culture and cuisine
  • FOOD AND BEVERAGE TOURS - 67.7 percent panel said food and beverage tours will be in fashion. Many hospitality and tourism businesses have opened themselves up to patrons through food and beverage tours, allowing travelers to deep dive into processes and expertise behind local foods, beverages, and favorite indulgences as well as opportunities to taste.
  • FOOD WALKS - 66.1% of experts see people opting more for city food walks. The panel sees this need to get out and explore resulting in a lot more city food walks, as people seek novel experiences closer to home.
  • CULINARY RESIDENCY - 35.5% of food experts see culinary residency picking up more. The Culinary Residency provides an opportunity for chefs, industry professionals, and newcomers to refine a food concept. It could be to prepare a restaurant menu, test recipes, create a new food product, or research a food subject. The individual is hosted and collaboration between them and other residents and members of the institution is encouraged
  • FOOD RESEARCH AND EXPLORATION - 25.8% of our panel see people traveling for food research and exploration in food. Travelers are becoming more introspective; this has already begun to manifest with greater exploration of destinations within the country.

 

Rushina Munshaw Ghildiyal, Curating Editor of the Godrej Foods Trends Report 2022 said, “I think all of us have spent 2 years fantasizing about the foods we want to try, and cuisines we want to explore, and chomping at the bit to get out there! The era of culinary or food tourism is here! We are all going to travel specifically to explore food. Whether to harvest our own Saffron in Kashmir, or cook and taste cuisines from local Agri, East Indian, or Bengali and Naga to Vietnamese, Korean or Peruvian. And this will involve cooking and interacting with food experts and chefs, exploring local markets, cooking with local ingredients, and trying local beverages, wines and spirits. Of course, in India we don’t even really need to leave our own cities or regions to do this, every corner has something new to discover! And I must say, as someone who has worked to grow this sector for years, I am really excited about this, also because culinary tourism is not only a vitally important component for the travel and tourism sector as a whole but also a fantastic way to infuse local economies with revenue and employment!”

 

 

 

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