Gastronomy Tourism Market Trend and Analysis of Traveller Types, Key Destinations, Challenges and Opportunities, 2022 Update

Key Highlights

• As depicted in the graph to the top right, when global respondents were asked “what type of holidays do you typically take?” in the publisher's Q3 2021 Consumer Survey, 26% stated that they regularly take gastronomical trips, which was a five percentage point increase when comparing the same response in the publisher's Q3 2019 Consumer Survey. The nature of gastronomy tourism is becoming increasingly diverse, which is helping to broaden its appeal to a wider range of visitors. This form of tourism no longer involves visiting a restaurant that was researched in the pre-trip stage, or sampling a local wine that was mentioned in a travel guide; the associated activities and experiences are now much more immersive. Gastronomy tourism has become segmented into specialist niches such as food festivals, food tours, food museums, cooking classes, wine trails, brewery visits, and many more. The constantly broadening appeal of this tourism type has now embedded gastronomy tourism into many destinations' wider cultural offering. According to the publisher's Q3 2021 Consumer Survey, 33% of global respondents stated they typically take cultural trips. With many destinations now acknowledging that a strong cultural offering can increase tourism flows, the connection between gastronomy and culture is often used to enhance a location's heritage and history.
• Sharing economy models often encourage interaction between hosts and users, which means that companies such as EatWith are encouraging the global community to converse with one another, which can make experiences and quality of life more enriching for both parties. Additionally, EatWith's platform gives the chance for locals living close to the poverty line to create a valuable source of income through tourist dollars, this may help to improve their quality of life. According to the publisher's Q2 2022 Consumer Survey, 63% of global respondents stated that how socially-responsible a product/service is ‘often' or ‘always' influences their product choice.
• When respondents were asked: “how would you describe your spend on wine in the last 3 months?”, 41% of Chinese travelers stated that their spend was either ‘quite' or ‘very' high. This was one of the highest percentages for this response. Additionally, China was one of the highest spending source markets globally prior the pandemic. Outbound expenditure from this nation reached $311.6 billion in 2019, making it the second largest source market for outbound expenditure for that year. Being drawn to high quality wine, many Chinese travelers have the means to travel long-haul. With the addition of significant spending power, this market could be the high value tourists that would benefit Bucharest's tourism recovery and enhance its image as an emerging wine destination.

Scope

• This key trends report provides cutting edge insight in to one of the fastest growing types of tourism globally, gastronomy tourism. An overview is provided, offering insight into which markets are most likely to undertake gastronomy tourism as well as the upcoming destinations that will be the next big hit with primary gastronomy tourists; a traveler types section then outlines the different types of gastronomy tourist, ranging from the casual recreational tourist to the ultra-demanding experimental traveler; a key trends section is then outlined looking at traveler demands that are shaping this type of tourism; company and destination case studies follow, highlighting what actions stakeholders are taking to take advantage of this type of tourism; advertising activity is then discussed, outlining how a range of different players in the industry are marketing gastronomic offerings; finally, challenges and opportunities are outlined to help inform strategies

Reasons to Buy

• Gain insight in to the different types of gastronomy tourist.
• Understand key themes currently impacting gastronomy tourism.
• Understand what companies are doing to attract gastronomy tourists.
• Look at how companies and destinations are marketing gastronomic offerings.
• Get information to inform strategies related to this tourism type.