Travel / news brief
Food Experiences Are a Core Reason People Travel, Executive Tells Global Forum
A travel industry executive told the Skift Global Forum that food tourism ranks among the most essential motivators for travel, arguing that place-specific culinary moments are what guests remember and return for.
Khanna made the case during a session at the Skift Global Forum, describing food tourism as one of the most essential parts of why people travel at all.
He drew a contrast between standard hospitality draws and culinary ones, saying hotels and beaches are fine on their own, but that knowing something is being cooked or otherwise offering a food experience can be what tips a family toward taking a trip.
The broader argument centered on experiences that can only be produced in a single time and place, which he framed as the kind of travel that sticks with people and brings them back.
Against that backdrop, he described the industry's spending on technology as a means of getting travelers to exactly that kind of moment rather than an end in itself.