Dinner is the destination.
Food tourism, also called culinary tourism or gastronomic tourism, is one of the most powerful forces shaping travel decisions right now. Not a trend. Not a nice-to-have. A primary driver.
Research shows that 77% of people plan their trips around a destination’s food and restaurant options. Let that sit for a second. More than three quarters of your potential visitors are thinking about what they’ll eat before they decide where they’ll stay.
If your marketing isn’t built around that, it’s leaving money on the table.
tldr; everything you need to know
What is food tourism?
Food tourism is travel motivated, shaped, or deepened by food and drink experiences. It covers everything from a spontaneous decision to eat at a local institution to a dedicated wine trail itinerary. The World Food Travel Association defines it as “the act of travelling for a taste of place in order to get a sense of place.”
That framing is useful. Food tourism isn’t just about eating well. It’s about eating specifically, locally, and memorably. A meal that could only happen here, in this place, at this time.
84% of travellers say local cuisine influences their destination choice. That makes food one of the most direct levers tourism businesses and destination marketers have at their disposal.
Why is food tourism booming right now?
The numbers speak for themselves. The culinary tourism market is projected to grow from $1.06 trillion in 2025 to $1.23 trillion in 2026, at a compound annual growth rate of 15.6%. By 2030, forecasts put it at $2.19 trillion.
The drivers behind that growth are worth understanding:
- Authenticity has become the product. Post-pandemic travellers aren’t satisfied with passive tourism. They seek authentic culinary experiences that let them engage with the culture behind the destination, and those experiences convert casual visitors into repeat travellers with genuine brand loyalty.
- Social media has collapsed the discovery funnel. A single video of a night market or a farm-to-table dinner used to take months to build word of mouth. Now it happens in hours. Searches for “Chiang Mai cooking class” and “Paris cooking class” on TikTok saw a 1,000% increase in one week alone as a result of content going viral. The implication for Australian operators: the right content, in the right format, can put a WA destination on a global wish list overnight.
- The younger market is driving it. 69% of millennials actively participate in food tourism, making them the largest demographic for culinary travel. This is the audience already on TikTok, already following food creators, already building itineraries around what they’ve seen in their feeds.
Social media has changed the game for food tourism marketing
This is the part most tourism operators still underestimate.
41% of Australian TikTok users say the platform’s food and beverage community encourages them to try new things, and nearly half say they became interested in a product or brand after watching food and drink content.
That is not a social media stat. That is a food tourism acquisition stat.
TikTok trends exert an outsized influence on food and beverage, especially among younger consumers. The platform has been instrumental to the success of brands like Little Moons and Itsu, and it sent tourists across the world to experience Japanese convenience stores after konbini content went viral.
The mechanism is straightforward. A creator posts a genuine experience. It generates desire. That desire becomes a search. That search becomes a booking.
What this means in practice: your food and beverage content doesn’t need a big production budget. It needs to feel real, look specific, and give people a reason to want to be in the room. Perth and WA are sitting on an enormous untapped content opportunity here. The produce, the venues, the people, the geography. Most of it hasn’t been told properly yet.
Food tourism and cultural preservation
This is the dimension that gets overlooked in the commercial conversation, but it matters.
Food tourism done well protects culinary heritage. When tourists seek out local producers, indigenous ingredients, and traditional cooking methods, they create economic incentive to keep those things alive. 89% of participants in food festivals say the experience increased their appreciation for local culture.
For WA specifically, this is significant. Australia’s use of native ingredients including wattleseed, lemon myrtle, finger lime, and saltbush is gaining international traction. Tourism operators who weave these ingredients and their stories into the visitor experience aren’t just offering a meal. They’re offering a point of difference that no other destination in the world can replicate.
What does food tourism actually look like?
The experience categories are broader than most operators realise:
- Brewery, winery, and distillery tours
- In-location tastings (paddock, cellar, kitchen)
- Walking and cycling food trails
- Night markets and food festivals
- Cooking classes and hands-on workshops
- Farm and producer visits
- Restaurant guides and curated dining itineraries
- Street food tours
- Pop-up and collaboration dining events
- Indigenous food experiences
The question is never “what can we put on this list?” The question is always: what makes yours the one worth travelling for?
Originality, authenticity, and a clear narrative are what convert a generic food experience into a shareable, bookable, memorable one.
What this means for your marketing strategy
If you’re a tourism or hospitality operator and food is part of your offering, here’s where to focus your energy in 2026:
- Lead with visuals, always. Food is one of the most inherently visual categories in travel. Short-form video on Reels and TikTok is your highest-return content format right now. Not polished brand content. Genuine, specific, sensory content that puts the viewer in the moment.
- Make your provenance visible. Where do your ingredients come from? Who grew them? What’s the story? 59% of travellers prefer locally sourced ingredients in their meals while travelling. That preference needs to be reflected in how you talk about your food, not just how you serve it.
- Work with the right creators. Micro-influencers with genuine local audiences consistently outperform high-follower accounts with no connection to place. A WA food creator with 15,000 highly engaged followers is worth more to a Margaret River cellar door than a Sydney-based travel influencer with 200,000.
- Build experiences worth talking about. Word of mouth has always been the most powerful marketing channel in hospitality. Social media has just given it reach. If the experience is genuinely good, the content follows.
Culinary tourism examples
Finding culinary tourism success doesn’t have to involve dedicated events or tours, especially when it comes to social media.
Social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram are filled to the brim with micro-influencers creating targeted and local content.
While it’s important to remember that this kind of content is almost never organic; however, because of the low-budget style that these videos tend to adopt, they feel organic.
What motivates food tourists?
According to Dr Barry O’Mahony from EHL, the main factors that motivate food tourists are:
- The taste of food was found to be the most important motivator for food tourists.
- Cultural experiences and socialisation were next – the latter was described as the desire to increase friendships in a food tourism destination. Food tourists look for destinations with abundant cultural and heritage features, unique specialty shops, markets selling local farm produce, cultural events, a rural environment and farmers’ markets.
- Food tourism appeals were another motivation, including traditional food villages and visitor-friendly food markets, and
- Local destination appeals were also a significant motivation, encompassing cultural events that feature food and other traditions of a food destination. Local destination appeals are related to opportunities to engage in diverse cultural activities.
The WA Opportunity
Western Australia has a food tourism story that is both underutilised and internationally compelling. World-class wine regions. An extraordinary seafood coastline. Indigenous ingredients with deep cultural significance. A food scene in Perth that punches well above its population size.
The gap isn’t product. It’s strategic, consistent marketing that tells that story to the right audience, in the right format, at the right time.
Food tourism isn’t just a trend; it’s a rich, immersive way to experience the world. By exploring local cuisines, we gain a deeper appreciation for diverse cultures and traditions. From street food to winery tours, food tourism offers something for everyone, preserving culinary heritage and supporting local economies.
For businesses, embracing food tourism can attract culturally engaged tourists and encourage repeat visits. Highlighting unique culinary experiences and collaborating with food influencers can set you apart in a competitive market.
So, the next time you ask, “What should we do for dinner?” let your culinary curiosity guide you. Discover the flavours that define a destination and uncover the stories that make it unique.
