Culinary Traveler

Part of

Food and Diet

Discover culture by exploring authentic food experiences.

MA 2024

Keywords

Food, Travel, Food Culture, Cultural Diversity

Overview

This project aims to optimize the way travelers access culinary information and, by understanding their dietary preferences, design personalized meal plans and food challenges. This helps them easily discover dishes that balance authenticity with personal taste. Additionally, it allows travelers to document and reflect on their culinary experiences, thereby enhancing cultural understanding and creating lasting travel memories.

The project not only provides travelers with a more personalized and enriching cultural experience but also creates new collaboration opportunities for local tourism and cultural promotion agencies. Through these partnerships, the project aims to promote local culture and the development of food tourism, ultimately delivering a win-win outcome for travelers, service providers, and cultural institutions.

Collaboration

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context

How about following the 'food' to explore the world?

According to the latest figures from the United Nations Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), the total number of international tourist arrivals globally in 2023 will be around 1.3 billion, of which Europe receives around 700 million, or 54 percent of the world's total international tourist arrivals, about one third of tourist spending goes on food.The importance of food in travel has made food tourism increasingly popular.

Why Intercultural Travelers

Intercultural travelers often feel nervous and uneasy when dining in unfamiliar cultures due to differences in dining culture, language barriers, and communication challenges.

Fragmented food information makes it difficult for Intercultural travelers to plan effective culinary experiences.

Most Intercultural travelers want to experience unique local cuisines, and greater cultural differences enhance their experience.

User Problem

Even after extensive research, tourists’ food experiences are still unsatisfactory.

Intercultural travelers often come across commercialized information and find it difficult to get word-of-mouth recommendations from local markets.

Tourists’ dining experiences are often repetitive. Although there are many food options available, people usually only know and choose a few widely recommended.

insights & Target users

Our initial hypothesis was: If we provide users with dining recommendations that balance their personal tastes with local cuisine, they are likely to have more positive food experiences.

However, through our research, we discovered that travelers are not just consuming food; they are driven by a curiosity and desire to explore the cultural attributes of the food itself. This led us to realize that food experiences are deeply intertwined with the culture behind them. With this insight, we identified four key takeaways and clearly defined our target user group.

Four key insights

Stages of cultural learning

Hearing about it — Tasting/Consuming it — Understanding what it is — Appreciating it (or not) — Rethinking/Spreading

Emotion Engement

Since overseas local food consumption involves a highly sensual, emotional, social, and environmental engagement, these factors collectively shape travelers' adaptation to and satisfaction with overseas cuisine.

Cultural Contrast

When choosing cuisine, intercultural travelers show varying degrees of willingness to risk disappointment. This willingness stems from their high regard for novel and cultural contrast culinary experiences.

Isolated Activity

Tasting local cuisine is just an isolated activity within the trip. This means that food experiences cannot serve as a way to explore the city but remain as isolated dining events.

Target Users

Through our ongoing research, we gradually narrowed down our user group. They have a high demand for tasting non-mainstream, diverse local cuisines, authentic experiences, and unique cultural insights.

HMW

How might we help travelers accurately identify foods they might enjoy and provide multiple perspectives for appreciating these foods, so that people can have a more meaningful and enjoyable culinary experience during their travels?

Strategy

By guiding travelers through a thoughtful process of knowing and reflecting on both food and culture, we can help them acquire and share more in-depth and detailed information, allowing them to better balance their personal preferences with authentic culinary experiences.
By encouraging travelers to actively explore and boldly try new things, they will gain more unique experiences and develop a more positive and open attitude toward diverse culinary cultures.

SERVICE OFFERINGS

We have refined improvement strategies from assumption testing, enhanced our service system's user experience, and identified the core value we offer to travelers. Below are our key offerings:

Conveying Local Recommendations

Our platform offers local dining tips from local people, highlighting a select number of recommended restaurants. Each restaurant is linked to platforms like Google Maps for easy access. To unlock more detailed information, users can contribute culinary insights from their own regions.

Food Trip Planning

We provide personalized food itineraries that align with users' tastes and local customs. Engaging tasks and cultural insights encourage interaction with the local environment, rewarding users with points redeemable for discounts. For a deeper experience, private guided food tours are also available.

Culinary Culture Exploration

Users can explore the history, ingredients, and cultural significance of local dishes through interactive quizzes and games. Insights from fellow travelers offer additional perspectives, inspiring users to engage more with the local cuisine.

Personalized Recommendations

We collect users' dietary preferences to tailor recommendations. As users log their food experiences, our platform refines their preference models, offering hidden local culinary gems. These insights are presented in a shareable format, helping users connect with like-minded travelers and better understand their own culinary tastes.

System

In our service system, there are three crucial elements that drive our operations and success:

Core Participants

We collaborate closely with local tourism offices, cultural organizations, and tourism consulting companies to provide travelers with rich, culturally immersive food experiences. Our service extends to local restaurants and food vendors, enabling them to connect with travelers based on user preferences.

Technology Integration

We partner with technology companies that provide advanced taste testing and recommendation algorithms. These partnerships help us channel users to precise services, enhancing their travel experience. Our system also leverages platforms like TheFork, Yelp, and Google Maps to refine food-related algorithms and expand service offerings.

User Engagement

The service targets intercultural travelers and locals, facilitating the exchange of food recommendations and helping users find the perfect dining experiences. Additionally, we provide travel and food review data to our tech partners to continuously improve the service quality.

SPECIAL
THANKS

Team

Chenxi Li

chenxi_li_tracy@163.com

+86 13009551964

Portfolio

Approved

Yan Jin

yanjin90701@gamil.com

Portfolio

Approved