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When picking a destination, younger travelers decide with food
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A woman eating with Eiffel Tower as background. (Shutterstock/File)
F
ood has become a priority over beaches and shopping among younger US travelers, according to the results of a new survey which also found that Paris remains the top food destination in the world.
After the French capital, Tokyo and Rome round up the top five for dining on the survey conducted by Hotels.com and Tasty Travels.
In the report, which polled 9,000 respondents in 29 countries, about two-thirds (60%) of the younger millennial cohort in the US cited food as the biggest deciding factor when picking a travel destination.
That compares to 43% for beaches and 20% for shopping.
“Experiences are the new wealth, and food provides one of life’s most pleasurable experiences, where there’s always something new to try when you travel,” said Hotels.com president Johan Svanstrom in a statement.
“So, it’s understandable that younger generations of travelers are defining their holiday by what they can eat, how they eat it, and how good the ‘Grams’ will be while they’re away.”
Their itineraries also reflect this preference for food-centred travel: Tucking into local delicacies outranks visiting landmarks (65% vs 49%) and exploring the great outdoors.
Read also: Eight destinations to explore in Indonesia in 2018
Research also shows that during a week-long vacation, American millennials snap on average 128 photos, 15% of which are food photos.
In fact, more than three-quarters of millennial respondents said they prefer to take photos of food over pictures of their friends.
Likewise, 76% of travelers cited their dining experiences as more memorable than spending time with their travel companions.
Here are the top seven food destinations:
1. Paris
2. Tokyo
3. Rome
4. London
5. Barcelona
6. New York
7. Madrid
