Sydney,
20
August
2018
|
03:22
Europe/Amsterdam

Going local is the essential ingredient for an unforgettable foodie adventure

  • More than six in ten travellers (61%) say they pick a destination for its great food or drink
  • Over half of Australian travellers (52%) are likely to seek out local street food markets
  • Malaysia, Taiwan, Japan and Brazil are among the top places to discover local food across the globe

July 2018 - If there’s one thing most people agree on when travelling, it’s that food is a major consideration when picking a destination. According to Booking.com data from over 50,000 global travellers, more than six in ten travellers say they pick a destination for its great food or drink. There’s no denying the significance of culinary travel, with more than a third of global travellers - rising to 40% of millennials - planning to take a dedicated food adventure in 2018.

It’s also clear that our appetite is only increasing with almost half of global travellers are still looking to be more adventurous with the type of cuisine they eat while traveling, rising to 60% of millennials. One way to achieve this is to sample the local delicacy whilst traveling, with research showing 64% global travellers will try to eat more local food in 2018.

Booking.com, the global leader in connecting travelers with the widest choice of incredible places to stay, reveals the top destinations around the world to sample local gastronomy, as discovered by the millions of Booking.com traveller reviews.

Local delights: the places to try

Some of the best places to try the local cuisine are in Southeast Asia, with regional delicacies like dim sum, noodles and pho. Perhaps it’s no coincidence that exploratory eaters also come from this area, as 57% of Asians confirm they are looking for new cuisine to try this year.

Top destinations for tasting local food

Ipoh, Malaysia

Kaohsiung, Taiwan

Nagoya, Japan

Johor Bahru, Malaysia

João Pessoa, Brazil

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Colmar, France

Lima, Peru

Catania, Italy

Belgrade, Serbia

Street food markets

Over half of Aussie travellers are likely to seek out local street food markets this year, which is a great way to experience the destination in an authentic way. More than half of travellers want to experience more unique dining experiences when traveling and food trucks are the perfect way to do this. Millions of Booking.com reviews by real travelers reveal the top destinations to enjoy these unique foodie experiences:

Top destinations for street food

Top destinations for food trucks

Jeonju, South Korea

Portland, USA

Hsinchu City, Taiwan

Sao Paulo, Brazil

Marrakech, Morocco

Seoul, South Korea

New York City, USA

Bangkok, Thailand

Mexico City, Mexico

Istanbul, Turkey

A photo good enough to eat

Social media is filled with photographs that show off traveling and foodie adventures. Beautiful, bright and unusual foods are the perfect way to fill your feed and offer an opportunity to show off local foodie finds. Nearly a third of travellers plan to take more food pictures this year. This is most popular amongst Asian travellers from China (65%), India (57%), Thailand (53%), Indonesia (50%) and Hong Kong (48%).

Pepijn Rijvers, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer at Booking.com comments: “Food plays a huge role in our travel choices and ultimately in our overall travel experiences. Trying the local and street food is a great way for travelers to really embrace the local culture, get immersed in local communities and explore the new and different. Using our endorsements from real traveler reviews can help you identify the best places to try and new places to discover so you can taste your way around the world!”

-Ends-

CONTACT DETAILS:

For further information, contact the Booking.com Australia Press Office; bookingau@redagency.com.au

NOTES TO EDITORS

Research commissioned by Booking.com and independently conducted among a sample of adults who have taken a trip in the last 12 months/plan to take a trip in the next 12 months. In total 56,727 respondents were surveyed (2000+ from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Germany, Spain, France, Hong Kong, Indonesia, India, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Malaysia, Netherlands, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan, United Kingdom, and the US, and 1000+ each from Denmark, Croatia, Sweden, and New Zealand). Respondents completed an online survey in October 2017.

Research commissioned by Booking.com and independently conducted among a sample of adults who have taken a trip in the last 12 months/plan to take a trip in the next 12 months. In total 18,509 respondents were surveyed (1,000+ from the UK, US, Brazil, China, Germany, Italy, Spain, France, India, Singapore and Russia and 500+ each from Australia, Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Hong Kong, Croatia, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, Thailand and Taiwan). Respondents completed an online survey in August 2017.

About Booking.com:

Established in 1996 in Amsterdam, Booking.com B.V. has grown from a small Dutch start-up to one of the largest travel e-commerce companies in the world. Part of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: BKNG), Booking.com now employs more than 17,000 employees in 198 offices in 70 countries worldwide.

With a mission to empower people to experience the world, Booking.com invests in digital technology that helps take the friction out of travel. At Booking.com, we connect travelers with the world’s largest selection of incredible places to stay, including everything from apartments, vacation homes, and family-run B&Bs to 5-star luxury resorts, tree houses and even igloos. The Booking.com website and mobile apps are available in 43 languages, offer over 27 million total reported listings and cover more than 130,000 destinations in 227 countries and territories worldwide.

Each day, more than 1.5 million room nights are reserved on our platform. So whether traveling for business or leisure, customers can instantly book their ideal place to stay quickly and easily with Booking.com, without booking fees and backed up by our promise to price match. Via our customer experience team, customers can reach Booking.com 24/7 for assistance and support in 43 languages, any time of the day or night.

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