ABSTRACT
Contemporary food travellers are seeking lasting memories through physical connection, different types of experiences and personal emotional development in which food cultures play a key role. The goal of this chapter is to identify the main international trends in food tourism in the face of changes in tourist consumption. After a literature review, ten trends were assembled: culinary storytelling, sensory experiences, personalization, healthy foods, outdoor food spaces, co-production, perceived authenticity, social interaction, digitalization and sustainability. A Delphi technique was employed as it is commonly used in forecasting future trends in tourism. A total of twenty-three responses were received from a panel of renowned gastronomy experts from Argentina, Canada, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Romania and Spain. The Delphi round occurred in May 2022. In general, all trends reached satisfactory levels as only two of the forty-three items scored below the set standards. Among other results, it was found that most experts consider sustainability as the major trend. On the other hand, ‘healthy foods’ and ‘personalization’ were the trends considered less important in the changing of consumers’ culinary expectations. The outcomes might inspire practitioners to invest in a combination of trends as, overall, all previews were considered as feasible.
