Food is trending with Insight

Bob Mowat

Talk of food was on the menu when Insight Vacations’ CEO, Ulla Hefel Böhler was in Toronto earlier this fall to help launch the premium, guided tour company’s 2020 Europe program.

Asked about trends that she is seeing in the market these days, Hefel-Böhler told Canadian Travel Press: “In terms of over-arching trends, immersive experiences absolutely continue to be a trend, and I know we tick that box so beautifully with Insight Vacations. Food continues to be a big trend. We all live to eat, and travel is such an amazing vehicle to really explore a destination and to taste it.”

Certainly, available research underlines the importance of food to travellers, showing that 80% of today’s travellers travel for food, and they spend 40% of their trip budget on food.

Hefel-Böhler agreed: “I think that’s an accu-rate assessment, food is absolutely so important. And again, that’s a really big point for [Insight], we’ve been focusing on the dining experience for many, many years, and we continue to innovate on that front.”

In this respect, Insight’s CEO pointed to the company’s Dine Around program where those on tour are split up into smaller groups and can then choose from a selection of different restaurants that offer different dining experiences, such as farm-to-table dining.

Another example, Hefel-Böhler said is Insight’s recently introduced Dine-At-Home experience where travellers – in very small groups – actually dine at the home of a local family.

“So, if somebody is thinking, oh well, a guided holiday, I’m going to eat in hotels every night, that is so not the case for Insight Vacations. We moved on from that many, many years ago, and beyond a meal, we also do lots of little tastings … and we love finding those unique foodie experiences, those unique places, and we love introducing our guests to them.”