Indians love Goa, Italy for gastronomic holidays: Survey

New Delhi: Goa and Italy are on top of the mind for Indians when they plan gastronomic holidays, reveals a survey.

The finding is part of travel site TripAdvisor's second edition of its annual 2017 India Gastronomy Survey. The survey was conducted with an aim to uncover key habits and preferences of Indians with respect to dining out, and how much food influences holiday planning.

One of the results of the survey -- conducted online in the third week of November among TripAdvisor's India survey panel -- indicates that three out of five Indians are set to undertake a gastronomic getaway in 2018.

Indians frequent restaurants often (35 per cent 'one to two' times per month and 33 per cent once per week), but it gains more importance while travelling as 48 per cent of the respondents said dining out and restaurant selection is important to their overall trip experience.

As many as 74 per cent respondents said they have either planned or intend to plan a gastronomic getaway soon to a destination specifically 'to try the food it is famous' for and 71 per cent of them said they even have plans to visit a 'particular restaurant' at their travel spot,

Within India, Goa is a top favourite with 49 per cent voting for it, followed by Kerala (35 per cent) and Lucknow (33 per cent) as places people would love to visit specifically for their cuisine.

Abroad, Italy takes the lead with 90 per cent, with Thailand (34 percent) and France (26 per cent) as other options.

"India is a gastronomical paradise with its wide array of cuisines and it is said that there is no better way to experience Indian culture than through food.

"The findings from the 2017 India Gastronomic Survey underscore the importance of food on holiday and that Indians are only set to become even more thoughtful about the foodie experiences they have whether they are travelling domestically or overseas," Nikhil Ganju, Country Manager, TripAdvisor India, said in a statement.