THURSDAY, March 28, 2024
nationthailand

Eat your way around the world

Eat your way around the world

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 50,000 global travellers, more than half of Thai travellers (57 per cent) say they pick a destination for its great food or drink. There’s no denying the significance of culinary travel, with 49 per cent of Thai travellers planning to take a dedicated food tourism trip sometime in 2018.
 It’s also clear that our appetite is only increasing. More than half (63 per cent) of Thai travellers are still looking to be more adventurous with the type of cuisine they eat while travelling. 
One way to achieve this is to sample the local delicacies while travelling. In fact, almost two-thirds of Thai travellers will try to eat more local food in 2018.
“Food plays a huge role in our travel choices and ultimately in our overall travel experiences,” says Pepijn Rijvers, senior vice president at Booking.com. 
“Trying the local and street food is a great way for travellers to really embrace the local culture, get immersed in local communities and explore the new and different. Using our endorsements from real traveller reviews can help you identify the best places to try and new places to discover so you can taste your way around the world!”

LOCAL DELIGHTS
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 per cent of Asians confirm they are looking for new cuisine to try this year.
Top destinations for tasting local food are Ipoh and Johor Bahru in Malaysia, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Nagoya, Japan, Joao Pessoa, Brazil, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Colmar, France, Lima, Peru, Catania, Italy, and Belgrade, Serbia.

EASY STREET
Over half (64 per cent) of Thai travellers are likely to seek out local street food markets this year, a great way to try local food. More than half of all travellers want to experience more unique dining experiences when travelling and food trucks are the perfect way to do this. 
Millions of Booking.com reviews by real travellers reveal the top destinations to enjoy these unique foodie experiences:
The top destinations for street food are Jeonju, South Korea, Hsinchu City, Taiwan, Marrakech, Morocco, New York City and Mexico City.
The top destinations for food trucks are Bangkok, Portland in the US, Sao Paulo, Brazil, Seoul and Istanbul.

GET A PICTURE
Social media are filled with photographs that show off travelling and foodie adventures. Beautiful, bright and unusual foods are the perfect way to fill your feed and offer an opportunity to show off local food finds. 
Nearly a third of travellers (31 per cent) plan to take more food pictures this year. This is most popular among Asian travellers from China (65 per cent), India (57 per cent), Thailand (53 per cent), Indonesia (50 per cent) and Hong Kong (48 per cent).
 

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