MUMBAI: Food plays a major role while deciding holidays for Indian millennials, and Italy, Singapore and the United States has topped the list of foodie destinations, according to a report. Two-thirds of Indian millennials (67 per cent) admitted a destination’s cuisine is the biggest deciding factor when picking where to holiday, according to ‘Tasty Travels’ research from Hotels.com. Italy (27 per cent), Singapore (26 per cent) and the US (26 per cent) have topped a list of the hottest spots on earth for foodie millennials in India, the report added.
The ‘Tasty Travels’ survey was conducted by One Poll in March 2018, among 9,000 respondents across 29 countries, including in India. The report revealed that for 13 per cent Indian millennials consider nightlife scene as important, while 17 per cent stress on adventure activities and 24 per cent art and culture, it added.
The younger generation is now even more focused on munching delicious local delicacies on holiday (59 per cent) than going to the beach or being by the pool (19 per cent) and exploring the outdoors (33 per cent), it said. The report said, it’s food over friends these days, as 60 per cent respondents from India admitted that they prefer to snap their food than their friends’ faces.
It said, rise in food photography on social media, as on a week’s holiday, Indian millennial travelers snap an average 172 photos, of which almost a quarter are of food.”The passion that millennial travelers have for what we call #TastyTravels, comes from a universal truth that food is one of life’s greatest pleasures. What’s more, as experiences have become the new social currency, travel opens a door to an amazing array of ‘share worthy’ dishes to try. So, it’s no surprise that younger generation travelers are defining their holidays by what they eat,” Nelson Allen, general manager, APAC of Hotels.com said.
Research also revealed that it’s no longer about the five-star dining experience, millennials now prefer street food (30 per cent) to star restaurants (23 per cent).Eating experiences are in fact now so high on the millennial travel tick-list, 69 per cent of Indian travelers said foodie experiences stand out the most in their holiday memories, it added. It said, pasta and pizza (48 per cent) are the food Indian millennials are most likely to post on social media, followed by burgers and beers (28 per cent) and fancy-looking noodles (27 per cent). PTI
