According to the latest Godrej Food Trends 2022, India is fast emerging as a destination for culinary tourism with more and more Indians venturing out to explore cuisines like never before. A trend which was not non-existent a decade ago, the culinary tourism sector is at the cusp of explosion as the Indian traveler embarks on a journey to savour the richness of local cuisines in a big way, the report says.

The trend, as per the report, is also catching up with inbound travellers, as travellers from all over the world are flocking to India to try authentic Indian cuisine and experience it firsthand.

Almost 90 percent of the people surveyed predicted an undeniable hunger for travel experiences centred around culinary culture and cuisine. Although the pandemic cut travel out completely in 2020-21 the consumers were checking out new flavours by cooking from regional and global cuisines at home, and chalking out bucket lists of places to visit and foods to taste when things improved, the report says.

The report prepared by taking inputs from over 200 thought leaders comprising celebrity and professional chefs, food bloggers, health professionals, nutritionists, restaurateurs, home chefs, etc says that there is an increasing appetite to travel to explore cuisines and culinary heritage of destinations.

87.1 percent of food experts predicted people will travel more to experience culinary culture and cuisine. There is increased demand for travel experiences centred around culinary culture and cuisine

The report also says that food and beverage tours will become fashionable sooner than later. 67.7 percent of the panel said food and beverage tours will be in fashion. Many hospitality and tourism businesses have opened themselves up to patrons through food and beverage tours, allowing travellers to deep dive into processes and expertise behind local foods, beverages and favourite indulgences as well as opportunities to taste.

Food Walks is another trend fast catching up with travellers. 66.1 percent of the experts see people opting more for city food walks. The panel sees this need to get out and explore resulting in a lot more city food walks, as people seek novel experiences closer to home.

Other culinary trends evolving with travellers are Culinary residency which provides an opportunity for chefs, industry professionals and newcomers to refine a food concept. Food research exploration is also another trend which is getting momentum with a lot of people in the country, the report says.

Commenting on the report, Rushina Munshaw Ghildiyal, curating editor of the Godrej Foods Trends Report 2022 said, “The era of culinary or food tourism is here. We are all going to travel specifically to explore food. Whether to harvest our own Saffron in Kashmir, or cook and taste cuisines from local Agri, East Indian or Bengali and Naga to Vietnamese, Korean or Peruvian. And this will involve cooking and interacting with food experts and chefs, exploring local markets, cooking with local ingredients, trying local beverages, wines and spirits. Of course, in India we don’t even really need to leave our own cities or regions to do this, every corner has something new to discover. ”