Food Tourism of the 21st Century
Food-for-thought
- Travelers inevitably will experience a country’s local cuisine and its unique foods taste.
- Renowned eats that travelers get to experience in a country will have lasting memories.
- Tourists spend 25% of their expenses on food, a key contributor to the local economy.
Food, as a lifestyle indulgence, is widely influenced by televised programs featuring celebrity chefs, chef competitions, unique cooking methodologies, etc. For travelers on holiday or business, there is always something to experience about food, whether from casual sampling at grab-and-go street kiosks, walking into locals-only gastro pub, or from that one-of-a-kind restaurant pleasures.
According to the World Food Travel Association, the average tourist spends about 25% on food and beverage alone, which can be as high as 35% in more expensive destinations.
Unless one’s culture has specific eating norms or restrictions, food is the emerging trend amongst world tourism. It’s no surprise that hoteliers, hospitality and leisure establishments have to constantly innovate to appease family groups, individuals and particularly the millennials that are willing to spend. Often, it is the eateries of tourist establishments that are the signature and pride of its brand, some even have celebrity chefs to boost their patronage.
Every business websites provide detailed information, many are also offering facilities to perform transactions online. With such conveniences, visitors browsing the site get to immediately review the information, consider and compare options available, make informed choices and secure deals all within a few clicks. The same goes for websites managed by hotel, hospitality or leisure establishments, which must be easy-to-navigate, reader-friendly, enticing as well as engaging.
To vie for a slice of the enormous appetites of the global food tourist market, these establishments must answer that critical question: has the website catered to visitors who mainly browse in their preferred language?
If yes… are the localized language versions reader-friendly and equally engaging? It is the same comfort that we ourselves want when buying a product, to be able to read and understand their labels and instructions, which is a fact attesting to the age-old adage… “Can’t read, won’t buy”.
Food Tourism is an added incentive and is definitely one that’s here to stay with generations of visiting tourists. There’s also that burgeoning number of savvy travelers around the world who prefer the D-I-Y experience in planning and booking their holidays. Unfortunately, for travelers who are unfamiliar with the language of a website, they will not get to know important information such as ‘things to see’, ‘things to do’, ‘unique eats that made the country famous’, etc. It is obvious that these travelers will give a higher ‘bounce rate’ for the website. They would rather browse other websites promoting the same destination in their preferred language.
For hospitality or leisure establishments that deliver the vital linguistic connection with the enlarged native-speaking audiences around the world, their returns are in many folds, while the country or region too will enjoy tangible economic benefits, such as:
- Increased visitor numbers: translating to higher popularity as a preferred destination.
- More revenue: air tickets, accommodations, spending on food, transport, shopping, etc.
- Higher media coverage: word-of-mouth, social media, chat groups, travel blogs, etc.
- Greater interaction with locals: increasing community awareness on tourism.
- Knowledge exported: awareness of the country’s unique eats, the fascinating food vendors, places of interests, etc.
- Increased tax revenue: generated for the government.
In a highly competitive international food tourism market, success or failure in engagement strategies with potential native-speaking travelers from around the world, mostly depends on the quality of the localized language versions of publicity content available on websites as well as at eateries.
However, it has been often observed and reported that the creation of local language content simply through translation alone is doom for failure. You need TRANSCREATION creative translation infused with creative writing) to deliver that engaging and emotional connection with the respective target audiences, in their preferred language. This was outlined in another post titled ‘Why Transcreation Does More than Translation’.
As a LSP (language service provider), IPPWORLD has been assisting hospitality, travel and lifestyle brands go global with their transcreation expertise – to help drive conversions at Clients’ website, converting clicks to customers, grow revenue and build brand loyalty.
About the Author
Joanne is the Regional Business Director of IPPWORLD. She assists brands and businesses go global with end-to-end transcreation and multilingual project management solutions. She can be reached at: joanne.chan@ippworld.com, or connect with her through Linkedin.
About IPPWORLD
As a LSP (language service provider), IPPWORLD helps hospitality, travel and lifestyle brands and businesses go global with transcreation expertise. Transcreation — creative translation — provided by IPPWORLD delivers end-to-end management of localized, contextualized content for your website, as well as brand and marketing campaigns. Transcreation into multiple global languages drives conversions, grows revenue and builds brand loyalty. With full-fledged offices in Singapore, Shanghai and Mauritius, as well as associates around the world, IPPWORLD is always available.
Over two decades in multilingual transcreation and localization services.
Trusted then, trusted now.
For more information on how we can assist you with global content marketing, visit www.ippworld.com, or email: info.singapore@ippworld.com.
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