Nothing lasts forever, and certainly not when food is involved. The travel preferences of globetrotters change every year, and according to leading travel experts, culinary travel seems to be a top trend in 2024. From wine tastings in the south of Italy to farm-to-table dining in the California countryside, food has always been an integral part of travel. Food allows us to not only immerse ourselves in the native cuisine of the place we’re visiting, but also connect us to the local culture in a vibrant sensory experience.
It’s not just travelers who are showing an increased interest in culinary travel, either. Travel agencies and hotel brands are also adjusting their strategies to support this new trend. A trip centered around a destination’s cuisine should be interactive, not confined to the dining booth and a thin paper menu. Virtuoso’s 2024 Luxe Report indicates at least 20% of guests book trips with culinary travel in the back of their mind.
Be on the lookout for these top culinary travel trends of 2024
Several culinary travel trends are expected to take off in 2024. Evaluating these trends collectively suggests travelers are no longer interested in simply tasting the food placed in front of them. They want to be immersed in it. Traveling with chefs, dining with locals, and foodie field trips are just a few of the ways culinary travel is evolving in the new year.
Allowing food to be the guidepost in a particular destination can make all the difference on your perspective of a region. Restaurants and tour agencies are beginning to offer enhanced opportunities that revolve around interactive food experiences. From gathering ingredients locally to selecting and preparing meals alongside chefs, travelers will be able to have a better grasp of the city they’re visiting.
Multiple hotel brands have also announced a transition in their dining accommodations. Essentially, less is more. Smaller, streamlined specials are replacing old-school menus that could be passed off as novels. A la carte dining and small bites curated to the local region are also popular up-and-coming trends. Seasonal, sustainable dining goes hand in hand with shareable food. Culinary travel with a focus on connecting with people around a table through family-style dining is projected to be on the rise, as are dishes prepared from the region’s freshest and finest ingredients.
Culinary travel hot spots and foodie experiences
As important as it is to decide how to experience food in its native region, asking yourself where to experience food is just as important. Some destinations just seem to have more going on when it comes to the local food and wine. Travel experts have expressed a visible increased demand in several hot spots whose culinary scenes are one step ahead of the rest of the world.
Let’s be honest, quality is, and should be, a top priority for culinary travelers eager to feast on top-quality meals. Tokyo, Japan, is the leading city in the world for the number of Michelin Star restaurants, with 263 globally renowned dining establishments. Fans of sushi and ramen will be overjoyed in this vibrant, lively city. If you’re indecisive about what cuisine to feast on at your dinner reservation, consider booking a trip to Brussels, Belgium. Remitly has identified this Western European city as the most gastronomically diverse city in the world, with 2,739 international restaurants.
Foodie travelers searching for the best of the best culinary scenes in the world should look no further than Lima, Peru. Lima is home to the number one restaurant in the world on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list. A Latin American foodie oasis, Central exudes calm vibes with its neutral, tranquil dining atmosphere and showcases the best of Peruvian fare in each dish that’s served.
Indulge in the flavors of the world with these up-and-coming foodie field trips
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Culinary travel experiences are becoming more creative each year, and 2024 foodie fans will be excited to dive taste-buds-first into some of the world’s best food tourism excursions. Holmen Lofoten’s Kitchen On The Edge Of The World in Norway is an exotic and somewhat chilling experience. Guests spend four nights foraging and feasting on ingredients in one of the world’s most remote places, where guest chefs create a restaurant in the wild, preparing full-course meals for their 20 guests. Daytime agendas are curated by guests themselves, but in the evenings, the chefs lead the way. Make sure to pack your sweater and beanie because this remote kitchen is based above the Arctic Circle in northern Norway’s Lofoten Islands.
In Vietnam, you can crisscross the country from Ho Chi Minh to Hanoi in 11 days on the Vietnam Foodie’s Paradise tour, feasting on the best and brightest of the country’s fare. From tasting “the best sandwich in the world” to sampling authentic Hanoi millennial cuisine, this foodie tour will navigate guests through the local twists and turns of Vietnam’s renowned culinary scene.
