The key takeaways from travel are what did you see, do and eat? Over the past few years, some travelers have begun to recognize the "eat" component as one of the most important ingredients in their vacations and are structuring their vacations around food. Known as "food tourism", it's gaining popularity as people become more curious and sophisticated in their tastes and cooking habits.

A new AAA survey found that 22 million Americans were planning a culinary-focused vacation in the next year!

What is it?

The simplest definition of food tourism is "the pursuit and enjoyment of unique and memorable food and drink experiences, both far and near." 1. Food tourism is meant to immerse food and wine enthusiasts into local food scenes, teaching them about the food trends and cooking techniques in different cultural locales. 

As a traveler, you can select a destination and then participate in different activities related to cooking and sampling food and drink. These activities might include dining events, cooking competitions, winery, brewery or restaurant tours, food tastings, cookbook author meet-and-greets, and other food related conferences or events.

And it isn't reserved only for gourmet food - about 90 percent of food travelers are interested in tours focused on things like street food, pub food, home-cooking and farmers markets.

Examples of food vacations

• Cooking and Dining in Italy: Might include a tasting menu with wine pairings, a visit to a winery or olive oil mil, a tour of a market, a Mediterranean cooking class and a dinner tour
• Beach and Eating in Mexico: Possible activities are a Mexican food cooking class, tequila tour and tasting, ceviche class, dinner on the beach
• Archaeological Food Tour in Greece: Explore the ruins of Greece led by an archaeologist and have food tastings that relate to the sites you've learned about, pistachio nut plantation tour, Greek cooking class, seafood dinner in a fishing village
• Food Immersion in Thailand and Vietnam: Your experience might involve a Thai and/or Vietnamese cooking class, dinner with a local family, exploration of floating markets, tour of the Mekong Delta and Rice Fields, visit to fishing villages with tastings of local seafood, and a street food tour of Bangkok
• New Mexico Getaway: Learn more about the history and culture of the city while sampling local specialties from restaurants, bakeries and markets, do a restaurant crawl tasting one course each from select restaurants, take a southwestern cooking class, meet-and-greet with local chefs.
• Culinary Experiences in New York City, New Orleans, Chicago, Savannah: Tasting dinner at a quintessential restaurant in the city you've chosen, tour of local farmer's market or specific foodie neighborhood, hands-on cooking class.

Travel-by-food is an authentic way to explore and learn about local culture. If you're ready to plan a foodie vacation, your AAA Travel Expert will be able to find a tour that fits your needs, or design one specifically for you. Bon appetit!