58% of S'poreans and Malaysians make travel choices based on food

SINGAPORE - A snap poll of 300 Singaporean and Malaysian travellers by travel metasearch site, Wego, has revealed that almost 60 per cent select their destinations based on local food experiences.

Of the split between men and women, all male respondents said they would select travel destinations based on culinary offerings, while food did not make a difference to 74 per cent of women surveyed.

"Clearly Singaporean and Malaysian men consider food a pivotal and significant part of the overall travel experience," said David Lai, Wego's Market Development Manager for Singapore and Malaysia.

"In our region which is already so historically and culturally diverse, we appear to have an understanding of how food represents those cultures in its own unique way and we as travellers, tend to take that with us in our exploration of the world at large."

Leading the top culinary destination choices in order of preference, are: Thailand, followed by Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea and Europe.

"All of these destinations are culturally impressive in themselves but also they have their own very distinctive food," Lai added. "We in Singapore and Malaysia have a unique appreciation I believe of culinary tourism and include dining as an influential piece of their travel planning choices."

Age also seems to be a factor when it comes to food tourism. Almost all of those over the age of 35, which made up 51 per cent of participants, said that they would select their holiday based on the local food options available.

"Travellers under the age of 34 are not surprisingly driven by other factors to travel, although 15 per cent of those between 25 and 34 did say that food could be a factor in their choices," said Lai.

candicec@sph.com.sg