Culinary Tourism - Market Share Analysis, Industry Trends & Statistics, Growth Forecasts (2026-2031)

The culinary tourism market size is expected to grow from USD 58.95 billion in 2025 to USD 61.90 billion in 2026 and is forecast to reach USD 86.66 billion by 2031 at 6.96% CAGR over 2026-2031. This report is Segmented by Activity Type (Guided Food Tours, and More), by Tourist Type (Domestic and International), by Distribution Channel (Direct Booking, Travel Agencies, and Online Platforms), by Travel Type (Independent and Group), and by Geography (North America, South America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Middle East and Africa). Forecasts are Provided in Value Terms in USD.

Global Culinary Tourism Market Trends and Insights

Rising Demand for Authentic Local Food Experiences

The culinary tourism market is growing as travelers look beyond famous restaurants and increasingly seek food experiences that reveal everyday local identity. In practical terms, that means greater demand for market walks, family-hosted meals, regional recipes, and direct contact with producers rather than only formal dining rooms. This shift matters for the culinary tourism market because it raises the value of local access, cultural credibility, and community relationships, which are harder to standardize at scale. India fits this pattern well, since Lucknow’s recognition as a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy in October 2025 gave formal global visibility to an existing culinary tradition rather than creating a new one from scratch. For operators, the message is clear: the culinary tourism market increasingly rewards those who can convert lived food culture into reliable visitor experiences without stripping away local context.

Social Media-Driven Food Discovery

Social media is also pushing the culinary tourism market, because food imagery and short-form travel content now influence where people want to go and what they want to book once a destination enters consideration. This effect is especially strong in Asia, where Agoda’s 2026 Travel Outlook showed that food was a key travel driver for 47% of travelers in Taiwan, 35% in Vietnam, and 34% in South Korea, all above the regional average of 31%. The same demand pattern is evident in travel search behavior, as Agoda reported year-on-year growth in accommodation searches for South Korean travelers to seasonal food destinations such as Changwon, Seocheon, and Gwangyang in early 2026. For the culinary tourism market, that means awareness is no longer built only through destination campaigns, because food stories, festival moments, and regional specialties can generate travel intent through distributed digital content. These dynamic features favor destinations and operators that can offer authentic experiences in a visual, searchable, and easy-to-book format.

High Cost of Travel and Culinary Experiences

The culinary tourism market still faces a clear affordability barrier, especially when curated gastronomic experiences sit well above standard travel budgets. In 2025, premium culinary packages were priced 22% above conventional itineraries, and 36% of mid-range travelers skipped curated gastronomy experiences, indicating that interest does not always translate into purchase. The pressure also runs through the supply side of the culinary tourism market, where insurance, labor, and food sourcing costs make it harder for smaller operators to offer lower-priced formats without weakening service quality. That cost gap matters in India and other price-sensitive markets, because heritage depth alone is not enough if travelers cannot find credible experiences within reasonable spending bands. Unless operators create layered products across budget levels, the culinary tourism market risks remaining stronger in aspiration than in broad-based conversion.

Other drivers and restraints analyzed in the detailed report include:

• Expansion of Food Festivals and Gastronomic Events
• Government-Led Destination Branding Through Cuisine
• Limited Culinary Infrastructure in Emerging Destinations

Segment Analysis

Independent Dining Tourism held 32.34% of the culinary tourism market share in 2025, making it the largest activity segment because it offers the simplest and most flexible entry point for food-led travel. The segment benefits from how travelers use restaurant bookings as a structured way to explore a destination, especially in cities where dining density, review visibility, and transport convenience are already strong. That pattern was visible in Trip.com Group’s data, which showed a 30% year-on-year increase in culinary travel bookings in the first half of 2025 and strong dining interest in Paris, London, New York, Madrid, and Milan. Experiential Learning and Cooking Classes are the fastest-growing activity segment, and the culinary tourism market size for this segment is projected to expand at a 7.46% CAGR through 2031. The growth reflects a clear shift from passive consumption toward hands-on participation, where travelers want to understand ingredients, techniques, and local food stories rather than only sample finished dishes.

Guided Food Tours and Culinary Trails continue to occupy a strong middle position in the culinary tourism market because they combine structure, local interpretation, and manageable price points. Secret Food Tours’ expansion to more than 100 cities and over 200 tours shows that guided formats can scale across geographies when the operator builds recognizable quality and city-specific curation into the model. Culinary Events and Festivals add seasonal demand, while Beverage Tourism remains smaller in volume but important for spend depth and destination identity. Overall, the culinary tourism market is seeing boundaries blur, as dining, classes, trails, and event-led participation are increasingly combined into single itineraries.

Domestic Culinary Tourists accounted for 61.12% of the culinary tourism market in 2025, indicating that most food-led travel still occurs within national borders rather than through cross-border trips alone. This matters because domestic demand provides the culinary tourism market with a more stable base, especially in large countries where regional cuisines create reasons for repeat short-haul travel. In India, that structure is particularly relevant because culinary diversity across states supports recurring domestic exploration even before international visitation reaches its full potential. International Culinary Tourists held the remaining 38.88% share, but they are projected to expand faster at a 7.97% CAGR through 2031. The growth case is supported by Asia travel intent data, which shows that food was a major travel driver for 47% of travelers in Taiwan, 35% in Vietnam, and 34% in South Korea.

The split between domestic scale and international acceleration creates a balanced structure for the culinary tourism market. Domestic travelers support the use of local operators, while international visitors often justify upgrades in language support, experience design, and quality assurance. India stands out within this framework because its food heritage can serve both audiences. Yet, its 34th-place GTMI rank shows that stronger visitor systems are still needed to convert global interest into a wider spend base. For operators, the strongest model is one that serves both groups through common core experiences with flexible adaptation rather than through fully separate product lines.

Complete Report Scope:

• By Activity Type
  • Guided Food Tours & Culinary Trails
  • Experiential Learning & Cooking Classes
  • Independent Dining Tourism
  • Culinary Events & Festivals
  • Beverage Tourism
• By Tourist Type
  • Domestic Culinary Tourists
  • International Culinary Tourists
• By Distribution Channel
  • Direct Booking
  • Travel Agencies & Tour Operators
  • Online Travel Platforms
• By Travel Type
  • Independent Travelers
  • Group Travelers
• By Geography
  • North America
    • United States
    • Canada
    • Mexico
  • South America
    • Brazil
    • Peru
    • Chile
    • Argentina
    • Rest of South America
  • Europe
    • United Kingdom
    • Germany
    • France
    • Spain
    • Italy
    • BENELUX (Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg)
    • NORDICS (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden)
    • Russia
    • Rest of Europe
  • Asia-Pacific
    • India
    • China
    • Japan
    • Australia
    • South Korea
    • South East Asia (Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Philippines)
    • Rest of Asia-Pacific
  • Middle East and Africa
    • United Arab Emirates
    • Saudi Arabia
    • South Africa
    • Nigeria
    • Rest of Middle East and Africa

Geography Analysis

Europe held a 32.85% share of the culinary tourism market in 2025, giving it the largest regional share, on the back of a dense culinary heritage, strong visitor infrastructure, and long-established destination trust. France received 102 million international visitors in 2025. It generated a record EUR 77.5 billion in international tourism receipts, up 9% from 2024, which underlines the economic depth that supports food-led travel across the country. Europe’s advantage in the culinary tourism market also comes from how food heritage is institutionalized, promoted, and embedded in broader tourism journeys rather than sold as a narrow add-on. This structure helps travelers trust quality and helps operators price for depth, not only for convenience. The result is a region where cuisine remains a durable demand anchor across both mass and premium visitor segments.

Asia-Pacific is the fastest-growing regional segment, and the culinary tourism market in Asia-Pacific is projected to expand at a 8.85% CAGR through 2031. Agoda’s 2026 findings showed strong food-led travel intent across the region, led by Taiwan at 47%, Vietnam at 35%, and South Korea at 34%, while South Korean searches for seasonal food destinations such as Changwon, Seocheon, and Gwangyang rose sharply in early 2026. The culinary tourism market in Asia-Pacific is also supported by a mix of social discovery, festival-led travel, and public branding, making product innovation more visible than in many mature regions. India represents one of the clearest structural opportunities in this regional picture, because Lucknow’s 2025 UNESCO gastronomy designation strengthened destination visibility while India’s 34th-place GTMI rank confirmed that infrastructure development still has room to improve.

North America presents a more digitally mature demand environment in the culinary tourism market, with strong platform usage and high spending on dining, but a relatively less formal gastronomy positioning than Europe. The United States placed 9th in the 2026 GTMI, which indicates meaningful maturity but also room for stronger destination-level institutionalization. In the Middle East, Bahrain’s hosting of the 9th UN Tourism World Forum on Gastronomy Tourism in November 2024, and Macao’s large 2025 gastronomy festival, both show how newer or fast-rising hubs are using cuisine to sharpen their tourism identities and attract higher-value visitors. Together, these patterns suggest that the culinary tourism market will continue to expand most strongly where cultural depth is matched by event programming, digital visibility, and credible public support.

List of Companies Covered in this Report:

• Secret Food Tours
• Gourmet On Tour
• Culinary Backstreets LLC
• Eating Europe
• The International Kitchen
• Food Tours of America, Inc.
• Epicurean Ways LLC
• Context Travel, LLC
• Arigato Travel
• Foodies Colombia
• Innsbruck Food Tours
• Aquitaine Travel Guide
• The Travel Corporation
• Intrepid Group Pty Ltd
• G Adventures Inc.
• Abercrombie & Kent USA, LLC
• TripAdvisor, Inc.
• TourRadar GmbH
• Eatwith Inc.
• Cookly Pte. Ltd.

Additional Benefits:

• The market estimate (ME) sheet in Excel format
• 3 months of analyst support