For travel advisors looking to tap into clients’ growing appetite for culinary tourism and more immersive, locally rooted experiences, the United States Tour Operators Association (USTOA) is serving up some fresh inspiration.
Earlier this year, USTOA launched a new season of its Global Kitchen video series, taking viewers into the food cultures of Quebec City, Canada; Chongqing, China; and Cali, Colombia. It’s an ideal tool for you to use as a starting point for building deeper, more experiential culinary-focused trips for your clients.
Chefs, food writers and content creators serves as guides as they discover the best street food and hidden culinary gems in these three featured destinations. In Quebec City, food columnist Allison Van Rassel leads the way through the city’s culinary traditions; in Cali, Catalina Velez, chef of the city’s Domingo restaurant, introduces travelers to the flavors and ingredients of Colombia’s Pacific region; and in Chongqing, Charlie Yang, executive chef at The Westin Chongqing Liberation Square, teams up with American food and travel creator Matt Soren to dig into the city’s famously fiery food culture.
“Travelers today are looking for meaningful ways to connect with the places they visit,” said USTOA President and CEO Terry Dale. “Whether it’s exploring a local market, learning regional recipes in a cooking class or discovering neighborhood favorites on a food tour, culinary travel offers a window into local traditions and creates a deeper connection to the people and places that shape a destination’s identity.”
The series offers a window into these destinations’ gastronomic offerings. In Quebec City, Van Rassel visits Rebecca McWhirter at La Petite Cabane a Sucre de Quebec, where hot maple syrup is poured over fresh snow to make traditional Quebecois maple taffy, before exploring more of the city’s food scene. In Chongqing, Yang and Soren dive into everything from the city’s hot pot traditions to mahua, the twisted fried dough sometimes referred to as the “Chinese French fry.” And in Cali, Velez takes travelers into Alameda Market, where the experience includes valluno-style empanadas and an introduction to tropical ingredients such as lulo, guanabana and chontaduro.
The campaign also includes a digital cookbook with recipes from this season’s destinations as well as Buenos Aires, Germany, Malta, Finland, Calgary, Yucatan, Türkiye, Madrid and Hong Kong. For advisors, it’s another resource for introducing clients to the flavors they can experience on the road.
“Following the success of last year’s Global Kitchen campaign, this year’s Global Kitchen continues to highlight culinary travel in both celebrated and lesser-known food destinations around the world,” continued Dale. “Culinary tourism helps preserve food traditions while supporting local communities, and USTOA’s Global Kitchen reflects that.”
For this year’s series, USTOA partnered with the Alliance de l’industrie touristique du Quebec on behalf of Bonjour Québec, China National Tourist Office New York and ProColombia. Additional sponsors to the digital cookbook include German National Tourist Office, Hong Kong Tourism Board, Only in Madrid, Tourism Calgary, Türkiye Tourism Promotion and Development Agency (TGA), Visit Buenos Aires, Visit Finland, VisitMalta and Yucatan Tourism Board.
