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In 2020 we roamed the world from our kitchen tables, but what were we searching for? Well, warth and spice evidently, based on the fact that food tours to the Caribbean island of Jamaica grew by 1,451%. But it wasn't just warmth we were after, as the next most searched destination was chilly Nepal, with many of you keen to explore its national cuisine.
Found yourself craving warming flavours and exotic spices, and ready to explore beyond the kitchen table? Why not follow the trend by embarking on a Morocco food tour? Sample the country's national flavours like mint tea, tajine and couscous while exploring on our Best of Morocco tour. As well as diving into Morocco's colourful history and way of life, you'll be immersed in the nation's famous foodie scene through rich cultural experiences like our exclusive 'Be My Guest' dinner experience, hosted in a traditional Riad in Fes.
Fast-forward to 2021 and despite the travel restrictions, our appetite for globalfood travelis just as ravenous as ever. In fact, demand for food tours globally increased by 24% in the first 3 months of 2021 alone. So where do we have our sights set on? Trendy food destinations include Vietnam, where searches for Hue food tours have boomed by an incredible 253%. In a country famed for crispy spring rolls, steaming bowls of pho and fresh salt and pepper squid, it's not so hard to see the foodie appeal. Discover it for yourself on our Vietnam and Cambodia Uncovered vacation.
Regional food tours have also proved popular so far this year, with 86% more searches for US food tours, making it one of the most trendy food destinations. Travel to New Orleans has been particularly trendy, with searches for the 'big easy's' food tours up by 123%.
Do you believe that food and travel go hand in hand? Our Be My Guest dining experiences are exclusive to Trafalgar and designed to connect you with locals in the places you visit. These experiences will see you breaking bread and sharing stories with fascinating individuals from all across the world as families welcome you into their home to share recipes passed down from generation to generation. Whether sampling rich bodied Chianti in a Tuscan vineyard, tasting Japanese delicacies in a traditional ryokan or enjoying the farm to table dining experience at an organic farm in Hawaii, Be My Guest is the ultimate celebration of food travel.
Curious to discover last years top quarantine food trends? Our number one trendiest food was the newly launched Mexican mango tajin popsicle with a 7,923% increase in searches. But Mexican food was also trending on social media with dishes like birrieria and quesabirria tacos featuring in all our favourite foodie's blogs.
If Mexico's national cuisine was on everyone's lips in 2020, fast-forward to 2021 and it's all about Bangladeshi food with searches for bhorta increasing by 511% making it one of our favourite trendy foods of the year. More finger-licking trends we'll sure hear more about in 2021 are Basque burnt cheesecake (174%) and juicy birria from Mexico (173%).+
What trendy foods and most popular dishes made their way into your kitchens in 2020?
In terms of food trends, it was all about discovering Eastern European cuisines with Moldovan food topping your list of trendy foods. If you're keen to explore Eastern Europe's hidden gems and best kept foodie secrets, check out our Highlights of Eastern Europe tour for 2022 travel inspiration.
Also in the top 5 food trends list were Middle Eastern food experiences with searches for Palestinian and Jordanian cuisines up by 54% 50% respectively.
What did you love cooking at-home? Your top food experience was Italian food, with searches for Italian recipes up 51%. You might not have been able to travel to Italy in 2020 but with all that at-home practice, we're sure you'll wow Italians with your cooking skills next time you travel to their shores!
But when it came down to the most popular foods in Canada, you loved searching for Japanese food experiences, making it your number one most popular cuisine!
In anticipation for travel to Canada's wild natural landscapes and bustling cities to resume, we still made sure Canada featured as one of our top virtual food travel destinations.
This year's most popular Canadian national dishes abroad were poutine with a staggering 8,588,000 global searches! Curious to know what poutine tastes like? Why not experience this Canadian delicacy directly from the locals by booking one of our many food tours to Canada?
Global searches were also up for Canadian bread, proving that proofing your own bread at home remained one of the most popular food experiences this past year.
In terms of the top grossing Canadian national dishes abroad, no list would be complete without this quintessential Canadian dish: pancakes with bacon and maple syrup!
Despite many countries putting a stop to international holidays, Canada still featured as one of your favourite food travel destinations to visit once travelling resumes. Many of you got some food travel inspiration by searching the web for Canadian food tours making it a popular food tour destination in South Africa, Singapore, New Zealand and Ireland.
Looking to plan a trip to Canada this year? Then check Trafalgar's Spectacular Canadian Rockies food tour where you'll be able to enjoy a delicious traditional Canadian lunch at a family-owned farm in Vancouver Island and guided tours through the Rocky Mountain's most scenic lakes.
Many of our Be My Guest experiences touch upon these popular foodie destinations. Gain a new understanding of what food means to indigenous culture with a workshop in Calgary, or visit a blackcurrant farm in Quebec to make your own tea and toast to the good life with local wines.
How did Canada's food experiences vary between cities?
In Toronto you loved searching for local restaurants and were particularly inspired by Iraq's national cuisine making it one of the most trendy foods of 2020.
One of the top trending food experiences in Calgary was Mongolian food takeaways, with searches for this national cuisine up by 600%.
Montreal loved to indulge in Nicaraguan food at local restaurants in 2020. But when it came down to getting food travel inspiration, it was all about Jamaica. Searches for Jamaican food tours were up 350% making it one of the most popular food experiences.
Methodology
• We have created a database with 50,000+ English language keywords related to cuisines, local food specialities, food travel and national restaurants/takeaways.
• We have focused on new food trends and cravings users got during 2020 – the year of lockdowns. We have used Google Trends and Google News to correlate the top trending terms/cuisines to social and cultural events. • We have explored the industry reports to find out the emerging food trends of 2021.
• We used the data from Google Keyword Planner to identify the most popular and most quickly growing trends globally, based on search demand from January 2019 to March 2021.
• Most popular options are based on the highest 2020 search volumes, most trending – on the biggest demand growth rates, compared to the previous year.
• We also pulled country-level and city-level search volumes for the same period.