#Trending This Week - Medical Tourism, Food Experiences Beyond The Dining Room, Seaweed, Grocery Store Tourism, And Ice Cream
Issue 205 • July 16, 2024
Okay, we admit it, we might have been a little hungry when compiling this week’s newsletter as there are a lot of trends focused on food. But that’s an important part of the travel and hospitality experience isn’t it? Here’s what you need to know this week. CONSUMERS SEEK FOOD EXPERIENCES BEYOND THE DINING ROOM. They want to see where their food comes from and be involved in the harvest, and many restaurants and hotel dining spots are heeding the call. Keeping it green, SEAWEED IS THE NEXT KALE. That’s right, the kale trend has peaked and is on the way down. We didn’t see this one coming: GROCERY STORE TOURISM! Read on to find out more about this one, but it does trend with recent findings on how travelers want to get a more intimate and authentic look at the local culture. MEDICAL TOURISM IS ON THE RISE — expected to increase up to 25% annually over the next 10 years. And the basic vanilla, chocolate, strawberry ice cream flavors have taken a back seat to oyster, chorizo, and blue cheese varieties. Check it all out in our three-minute read below.
Providing Experiences Beyond The Dining Room
A growing number of diners today want to get more up close and personal with their food. They want to know where it comes from, how it is harvested, and ways in which it can be prepared. And restaurants are heeding the call. Restaurants and food businesses are going to great lengths to organize interactive excursions that let guests travel beyond the dining room. Many hotel guests are culture seekers and they want to get out there and explore what it’s like to live like a local through food. Read more in Plate here.
Seaweed Is The Next Kale
Kale is so yesterday. Seaweed is where it’s at. Sushi was just the start — now seaweed is increasingly making its way into chips, pet food, and face cream as well as inventive twists on dishes like kelp kimchi. Read more in The Wall Street Journal here.
Have You Heard About Grocery Store Tourism?
Going to the store in an unfamiliar land is suddenly the hot travel trend that's all over TikTok. Touring a local grocery store when you're traveling abroad can be so much more insightful and culturally relevant than visiting the country's top attractions and is just as enlightening and informative with regard to learning the country's flavor profile through new scents, foods, and spices. Read more in Thrillist here.
Medical Tourism Is On The Rise
Only a few years ago, medical tourism was a blip in overall global tourism spending. Today, it is a multi-billion dollar industry expected to increase by up to 25% per year over the next 10 years. As the world’s population ages, hundreds of thousands of travelers are expected to seek medical services outside their home country/region—and spend billions of dollars on treatments. Read more in VISA’s Global Travel Insights here.
Over The Top Ice Cream
There have been some interesting forays into savory ice cream, but toppings and flavors are continuing to trend to the weird. Think oyster, chorizo, blue cheese, brussels sprout, and caviar flavors and toppings. There’s a trend to balance sweetness, create depth, and make flavors more bold. Heck, even Heinz partnered with a brand to make a baked bean flavored ice cream. Read more in The Guardian here.