Food as the Main Travel Agenda: Travellers Plan Trips Around Gastronomic Experiences this Valentine's Day

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11 Feb, 2026, 13:43 GMT

Food becomes a central purpose for travel, with food-related bookings up by 43% YoY and surge in fine-dining interest
Gastronomic hubs such as Bangkok, Seoul and Tokyo are top flight destinations this Valentine's Day

SINGAPORE, Feb. 11, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- How far are people willing to travel for food? This Valentine's Day, travellers are building their itineraries across gastronomic adventures, with gourmet experiences, such as fine-dining, soaring across the world. People are crossing borders just to get a taste of one-of-a-kind culinary experiences like never before.

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Travelling for food is a trend that has seen increased momentum. No longer an afterthought, people are gravitating towards curated culinary experiences that serve as a central purpose for travel, with food-related bookings on Trip.com up by 43% YoY.

Additionally, Trip.com Group's Why Travel report found that in the first half of 2025, Google Trends worldwide searches for "food travel" have grown by 18% year-on-year (YoY), and searches for expert guide-led resources such as "Michelin Guide" have also increased.

Gourmet experiences, especially fine-dining, is seeing a surge in interest. Trip.com's latest data found that fine-dining searches demonstrated steady double-digit growth month-on-month, outperforming that of general restaurants. This trend is observed in several markets including Hong Kong SAR and Taiwan region, as well as Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and United Kingdom^[1].

Dining searches increasingly reflect experience and scenario-driven intent, such as anniversary dining, atmosphere-focused venues and restaurants with views. This demonstrates the increasing appeal of unique culinary experiences combined with travel, to commemorate special occasions such as anniversaries, celebrations and get-togethers.

Top Valentine's Day Destinations: Bangkok, Seoul and Tokyo

With long weekend travel on the rise, the upcoming Valentine's Day presents a perfect opportunity to take a quick three to four days' getaway with that special someone. Travellers can make a long weekend trip by taking one day annual leave. Combined with the Lunar New Year holiday break this year, this can easily be extended into a week-long trip.

The top destinations that travellers plan to head to this Valentine's Day weekend include popular gourmet cities such as Bangkok, Seoul, Tokyo, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Phuket are fast-becoming a destinations of choice especially among Chinese mainland travellers, while lesser-known Vietnamese cities such as Da Nang and Phu Quoc Island are increasingly in demand among travellers from South Korea, as well as Hong Kong respectively.

In Europe, gastronomic hubs such as London, Madrid, Paris and Rome are some of the top destination choices this Valentine's day. Other romantic European destinations that made the top list include Istanbul, Venice and Porto, as well as more unconventional locations such as Algiers, Cairo and Tunis^[2].

Popular Restaurants for a Romantic Time

For travellers planning something special this Valentine's Day, Trip.com Group's travel rankings provide a helpful starting point for discovering dining experiences to impress your other half.

Using Trip.Best, the Group's data-backed list of travel rankings around the world, users can source for top recommendations and suggested experiences this Valentine's Day, from stays to destinations and restaurants.

Trip.Gourmet, a food and travel guide under Trip.com Group, also compiles an annual list of top restaurants across 68 countries and 18,000 dining destinations – perfect for finding romantic restaurants to celebrate Valentine's Day.

Travellers can search for top fine-dining restaurants using data-backed AI guide, Trip.Best, and filter them by location, such as Odette (Singapore), Eatanic Garden (Seoul) and Arpège (Paris).

Whether it's from London to Sydney, or Singapore to New York, travellers are not afraid to go the distance to savour the best of gastronomy. With global rankings such as Trip.Best and Trip.Gourmet, travellers can easily find the best restaurant for their every need – from fine dining to must-visits, wherever they wish to go this Valentine's Day.

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About Trip.com Group

Trip.com Group is a global travel service provider comprising of Trip.com, Ctrip, Skyscanner, and Qunar. Across its platforms, Trip.com Group helps travellers around the world make informed and cost-effective bookings for travel products and services and enables partners to connect their offerings with users through the aggregation of travel-related content and resources, and an advanced transaction platform consisting of apps, websites and 24/7 customer service centres. Founded in 1999 and listed on NASDAQ in 2003 and HKEX in 2021, Trip.com Group is on the mission "to pursue the perfect trip for a better world". Find out more about Trip.com Group here: group.trip.com.