The Potential of Culinary Tourism in India

Abstract

With the branding of India as a tourist destination, the role food plays in attracting tourists is attracting attention. This is because of the symbiotic relationship between food and tourism. A tourist destination's cuisine plays an important role in determining the quality of the overall tourism experience. Countries such as France, Italy and Thailand which are known for their unique food have been using their cuisine as an effective promotional and positioning tool for many years now. This paper hypothesizes that the potential of culinary tourism in India is enormous. This is not only because of its uniqueness but also because of its sheer diversity with flavours changing every 200 kilometres across the country (Mohanty, 2014). Nevertheless, people do not visit India more for its history, art and culture. There is a general perception amongst foreign tourists that Indian food is extremely spicy and unsuitable for their palates. Other issues are related to hygiene and safety. The purpose of this paper is to explore these perceptions amongst foreign tourists in India, understand their views on Indian food, their likes and dislikes. On the basis of these findings this research will clarify whether, in addition to all its other manifold attractions, India's cuisine has potential to draw tourists to the country. Here, food becomes the primary attraction and the main motivator for a visit to the country. Whether this potential exists with respect to Indian cuisine will be explored. A quantitative approach will be used including theoretical and experimental methods. The theoretical method will explore literature on Indian cuisine and what other researchers have discovered on tourist perception on Indian food. The experimental method includes administering a questionnaire to foreign tourists in Bangalore and Chennai to understand their views on Indian food. The data analysis tool will be Microsoft Excel. On the basis of the findings of the data analysis, the author will identify the perceptions of foreigners on Indian food, the impediments that possible hamper their enthusiasm for sampling Indian cuisine, what will change their perceptions and also make recommendations on how Indian food can become one of the main reasons for foreign tourists to visit India.