sector gastronomy
Food and drink tasting in Kentucky
Expert opinion
Why food excites today’s travellers Kenny Dunn is the founder and director of Eating Europe Tours, which offers 35 food experiences
to sample nine signature
regional meals in a State Park
restaurant, and a food visitors’ guide has been created.
Adventures in eating Food tourism can also drive impressive
business for operators, from specialists such as Eating Europe Tours (see expert opinion panel) to Intrepid Travel, the world’s largest small-group adventure tour company. Intrepid Travel launched Real Food Adventures in 2013, one of the most successful new themed trip ranges in the operator’s 29-year history, with a steady 20% growth in passenger numbers each year. In 2017, more than 2,400 customers enjoyed a Real Food Adventure, and in just over five years the range of itineraries has increased from five to 25. The most popular are to India and Sri Lanka.
Food and brand product manager
Cara Brown says food has always been “core to the DNA of the Intrepid Travel experience”, but says popular culture has helped drive demand: “The surge of culinary travel-based TV shows, food magazines and food and travel blogs over the last decade has in turn generated a segment of travellers seeking a style of travel in which cuisine takes centre stage. These travellers want to taste first-hand the flavours they have read, seen and heard so much about.” Brown says the tours’ average customer is 39 years old and female. However, she adds: “Food, like travel or music, has no age barriers and can be enjoyed by all. Feedback from our food tours is above company average as
36 wtm insights summer 2018
our groups have two things in common when they meet – their love for travel and their passion for food.”
Technology is making it easier to meet like-minded food-lovers when travelling and gain an authentic experience of local cuisine. Social dining platform Eatwith connects travellers via its website or app with one of 25,000 hosts in 130 countries. Customers can choose from experiences including a dinner party in a Parisian chef’s home, a food tour through London, or a cooking class in Tokyo. The host sets their own price, with Eatwith taking a 20% commission on top. Previously known as VizEat, Eatwith was founded in 2014 and chief executive and founder Jean-Michel Petit says while 48% of guests are millennials, all generations are represented at Eatwith’s tables. It is a member of luxury travel network Virtuoso, and about 80% of customers stay in hotels.
Petit says technology will continue to shape the way travellers engage with food. “Technology at its best is all about enabling real-life connections,” he explains. “It has given us a way to have a greater connection and closeness with food at our fingertips and has enabled us to explore a city more authentically than ever before.”
“
Enjoying the local cuisine was always a big part of travelling, but it used to be mostly left to chance or to recommendations from the hotel or your guide book. Today, travellers are actively searching for food-related activities that will ensure they get an authentic taste of the local cuisine, because eating well on holiday is now just as important as finding comfortable accommodation. And for millennials, it’s even more important. We want every guest coming away
from an Eating Europe experience feeling like they got a taste of what it is to live in that place. Storytelling is at the centre of all of our tours and activities. The food artisans are the protagonists of each story, such as Armando, the 74-year-old gelato maker who has been creating Rome’s best gelato since he was 14. All the food and drink we share
must relate to that local culture. It can be hard to gain access into another culture, especially when there is a language barrier, but food provides a way in.
”
Amsterdam food and canal tour
Street food in Vietnam
Food and cocktails in London’s Soho
BodyHoliday in St Lucia offers scientific testing as part of a luxury wellness holiday
wtm.com
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