Culinary Tourism Growth

Farm hospitality will become a $21 billion market by 2033. But what exactly is farm hospitality? It's anything that connects a stay to agriculture. Growing things. Farm-to-table. Farm-to-spa. Livestock. Goods made on-site. But what really differentiates it is farm-first thinking. The farm comes first, then you build the hotel around it. Everything flows from the agricultural operation – what's on the menu, what's in the spa treatments, what guests can do and learn. Guests participate in the actual farming. So instead of just eating farm-to-table food, you're out harvesting vegetables for dinner. Pressing olives into oil. Learning beekeeping. Milking cows. That participation is what makes it work. And that’s a key reason why farm hospitality is having a moment right now… It taps into what modern travelers actually want. On the wellness side, they want to know where their food comes from and see it being produced. When you walk into the field and interact with the farmers, there's an instant trust that no certification can replicate. There's also the participation piece – actually picking produce, understanding where food comes from, being part of the process instead of just consuming the end result. And there's nostalgia for simpler times. Not everyone wants to live on a farm full-time, but most people want to experience it for a few days. To reconnect and get back to a way of life that isn't so inundated with tech. The properties leading this category are crushing it. Blackberry Farm. Southall Farm. And some incredible properties outside of the U.S. like The Newt in Somerset, UK. Babylonstoren, South Africa. Borgo Santo Pietro, Tuscany. These places run on a seed-to-soul model where the farm drives everything – menus, spa offerings, what guests experience and learn during their stay. The market is growing fast, and the best properties are earning Michelin keys and James Beard awards. I've written a lot about farm hospitality recently because it's the foundation of Baya, our next landscape hotel brand with our first location in South Florida. In this week's newsletter, I'm breaking down the full farm hospitality playbook: - Why the market is exploding (and the data behind it) - How the best properties are actually structured - What guests are really paying for - Where this is bleeding into residential real estate - And why this isn't just a trend Sign up using the link below for the full breakdown: https://lnkd.in/ed5frq6Z

I attended a groundbreaking in rural Georgia last weekend that could change how developers think about food. 200+ people stood outside on a warm spring day to watch dirt get moved. For a normal residential development, that doesn't happen. But it does when you build around the one thing every human organizes their daily life around, and that almost no community actually integrates into its design: Food. CERES Chattahoochee Hills broke ground 30 minutes southwest of Atlanta. It's the first U.S. development built explicitly around the European "gourmet cluster" model. 10% of homesites are already reserved with deposits. Wellness real estate grew from $225B in 2019 to $548B in 2024, and is projected to hit $912B by 2028. Buyers pay 10-25% premiums over comparable conventional homes. But almost every wellness community has followed the same playbook: fitness centers, spa services, maybe a working farm. Food usually shows up as a Saturday farmers market or a farm-to-table restaurant tucked near the clubhouse. CERES flips that. Food isn't an amenity; it's the economic engine. - 90% of the landscaping is edible — retaining walls function as living food walls - A 5-acre truffle orchard, developed with the American Truffle Company - A potager garden that supplies on-site restaurants (which lease their garden parcels from the HOA) - A chef incubator in place of a clubhouse, rotating three emerging concepts every 18-24 months - Graduates launch their own restaurants within 10 miles of CERES — seeding the surrounding area with food businesses The insight came from small towns across the UK. Malton, Yorkshire was trending toward ghost-town status a decade ago. After the town rebranded around food, home values rose 49.3% over five years — nearly double the UK average. Dominique Love and Ellen Buckley at TNG Communities plan to replicate the model across 10 Sunbelt communities. The TNG Incubator is the exportable engine — they never have to recruit restaurants from outside because they're building their own pipeline of operators. Here's the real question CERES raises: can food do for the next generation of residential communities what golf did for the last? Golf courses organized social life, created identity, and commanded premiums for decades before the model fatigued. Fitness amenities followed but never generated the same economic activity or community identity. The gourmet cluster model proposes something different: an amenity that creates businesses, draws visitors, and compounds with age rather than depreciating. I wrote the full deep dive on CERES in Thesis Driven today. We're also hosting Dominique and Ellen for a Spotlight interview next Wednesday, April 29 at 3 PM ET. Link in comments.

When rooms, tech, and amenities start to feel the same, hotels lean on food and beverage to differentiate — and that’s the focus of this episode of #NoVacancyNews, recorded during #ALIS26, which I missed because of airline issues. I’m joined by Phil Colicchio and Trip Schneck of Colicchio Consulting, talking from Los Angeles while I deal with snow back home. We talk about the pressure hoteliers feel around food and beverage right now — rising costs, operational stress, and the need to make restaurants work financially without turning them into generic hotel outlets. What stood out to me is how directly they connect #FandB to experience. #Hotels use tableside service, presentation, fire, buyouts, and flexible programming to give guests a reason to choose one property over another. We cover: 🍽️: Why experiential F&B drives differentiation 🔥: How presentation and design create built-in entertainment 🏨: How hotels use restaurants to support asset value and repeat visits 🍷: Why differentiation doesn’t require celebrity chefs ☕: How wine bars, coffee programs, and flexible concepts perform 🎯: Designing F&B around the actual audience, not trends

Switzerland’s oldest recipes are becoming its newest luxury From survival to premium positioning. As a Swiss foodie, this makes me proud. Swiss food was never built around excess. It was built around altitude, seasons, preservation and respect for ingredients. Cheese, rye bread, dried meat, barley, potatoes, fermented dairy and preserved fruits were not lifestyle products. They were survival. Today, this heritage is being rediscovered in high-end hospitality. The Financial Times highlights how Capra Saas-Fee, a luxury boutique hotel in Saas-Fee, Switzerland, has built a culinary retreat around Alpine food culture, local producers and regional gastronomy. That matters. - Raclette came from Alpine herders. - Fondue turned aged cheese and bread into warmth. - Rösti started as simple farmer food. - Air-dried meats were preservation before they became delicacies. Swiss cuisine is not loud. It is precise, regional, practical and deeply rooted. And that is exactly why it has global relevance today. - Authenticity is becoming premium. - Provenance is becoming brand equity. - Heritage is becoming differentiation. Sometimes, the strongest innovation is simply remembering where we come from. #retail #hospitality #travel #luxury #food #fmcg #ecommerce #marketing #branding #storytelling #consumer #customerexperience #localfood #regionalproducts #sustainability #tourism #destinationmarketing #premium #switzerland #europe #retailtech #innovation #sales #investment #startups #omnichannel #communications #culinary #heritage #foodculture

Have you heard of ‘Backyard Cuisine’? Neither had the students of Ashoka University, before they travelled to the far reaches of Kaziranga to document the leaf-wrapped dish Patot Dia Maas. “The gorgeous landscape undergoes severe flooding every year, prompting the inhabitants to live in stilt houses and find innovative ways to consume the flora and fauna at their disposal. For most of their cooking, they literally use whatever is available in their backyard," shares Dharani Dhavamani, one of the students involved in the InHERIT project, a significant cultural initiative aimed at preserving and celebrating India’s rich heritage, which Ashoka University recently launched. Departing from conventional documentary formats focused solely on monuments, the project curates episodes exploring the culinary, textile, craft, and festival practices of various Indigenous communities across India. My feature on Ashoka University's ongoing inHERIT Project 💫 https://lnkd.in/dTNibWGz

Lately, I was sitting with a hotel GM, poring over the monthly numbers. All was good, profitability, revenue growth, cost metrices But then came the F&B report—a story of missed opportunities. It wasn’t that guests weren’t spending; they were just spending somewhere else. The problem? Guests loved the local taste in the market, and try that instead of identical hotel menus. They were flocaking to a trendy cocktail bar with Instagrammable drinks, and the buzzing local café offering live music on weekends. The truth hit hard: We weren’t just competing for heads in beds; we were competing for plates and glasses too. We brainstormed the ideas to reclaim our fair share of the guest’s wallet and came across few time tested options: 1. Curate Experiences, Not Just Menus Guests crave stories. Host a wine night featuring bottles from local vineyards or a chef’s table with dishes inspired by the region’s flavors. Make dining more than just a meal—make it a memory. 2. Partner with, Not Against, Local Attractions The café next door doesn’t have to be your enemy. Collaborate with them for exclusive guest perks: free dessert with dinner, a signature cocktail, or a voucher included in the room rate. When you work together, everyone wins. 3. Leverage Convenience Without Feeling "Corporate" In-room dining has a reputation for being uninspired and overpriced. Break the mold. Offer picnic baskets for guests heading to the beach or late-night snacks tailored to their Netflix binges. 4. Know Your Audience Families, solo travelers, couples—they all want different things. Maybe your rooftop bar transforms into a family movie night on Sundays. Or your breakfast menu includes quick grab-and-go options for business travelers. Tailor your offerings to their needs. Here’s the thing: When guests have an unforgettable dining experience at your hotel, they’re more likely to return—not just to eat, but to stay. They’ll remember the rooftop view, the friendly server, and the local flavors. And they’ll associate all of that with your property. So, if your F&B numbers are lagging, don’t just ask why guests are leaving. Ask how you can make them want to stay. And if you can meet them where they are, you won’t just win their dollars. You’ll win their hearts.

🍛 India’s Timeless Recipes Live in Temple Kitchens & Villages — But For How Long? In the sacred kitchens of our temples and the humble hearths of rural India, some of the world’s most ancient culinary traditions are still alive — but only just. Recipes prepared as sacred offerings (naivedya), festival specialties, seasonal health foods, & simple yet profound everyday dishes continue to be passed down orally, from grandmother to mother, from temple cook to apprentice. These aren’t just recipes — they are living documents of our civilizational memory. They carry Ayurvedic wisdom, seasonal awareness, local biodiversity, & spiritual consciousness. Temple kitchens like those in Jagannath Puri, Madurai Meenakshi Temple, Guruvayur, & Udupi Krishna Matha are not just places of food preparation — they are institutions of sacred science & cultural continuity. Across India, different regions evolved their own unique cooking traditions based on local produce, climate, festivals, & beliefs — millet-based cuisines in the Deccan plateau, fermented foods in the Northeast, steamed delicacies in Kerala, sun-dried preparations in Rajasthan. These culinary forms were deeply rooted in ecological intelligence & socio-cultural rhythms, often crafted without written texts, but encoded in daily life. Their loss would mean not just a loss of taste, but a rupture in our understanding of how food, nature, & culture coexisted harmoniously for centuries. Modern culinary trends often celebrate novelty, but true innovation lies in rediscovering our roots. India’s food heritage is a goldmine for culinary tourism, sustainable gastronomy, health-conscious eating, & cultural education. If documented well, these recipes could find a place not just in kitchens but also in school textbooks, wellness retreats, culinary institutes, & international food festivals. Let’s give these ancestral treasures the respect & recognition they deserve — before globalization erases them from memory. But here’s the truth we can’t ignore: much of this is undocumented. The names, techniques, ingredients, & cultural contexts behind these dishes are often known only to a few — & with each passing generation, that number dwindles. 🌾 What will happen to these recipes if we don’t act now? Can we build digital archives, publish bilingual culinary manuscripts, support grassroots food historians, & recognize our temple cooks & rural grandmothers as heritage bearers? This is not just about food. It’s about preserving India’s intangible cultural heritage, regional diversity, sustainable practices, & a worldview where cooking was both science & sadhana. Let’s act before silence replaces taste, & the oral wisdom of centuries is forgotten forever. #IndianCulinaryHeritage #TempleCuisine #TraditionalRecipes #FoodAsCulture #IntangibleHeritage #PreserveOurHeritage #SacredFoodTraditions #CulturalPreservation #OralTraditions #HeritageTourism #SustainableGastronomy #IndianWisdom Puri Jagannath Temple Kitchen

Recently, I stayed at one of the most beautiful properties I've ever experienced, a luxury retreat tucked into the Northern Rivers hinterland. It wasn't just the architecture or the setting, though both were spectacular. It was the way it made you feel. The attention to detail, the locally sourced breakfast that felt like art on a plate, the way CBD luxury translated seamlessly into regional hospitality. You felt looked after in a way that big hotels, no matter how expensive, rarely achieve. The operator knew what travellers were seeking, that blend of sophistication and authenticity, of escape without compromising on comfort. It crystallised something I'd been seeing in the data but hadn't fully appreciated until I experienced it firsthand. This style of accommodation luxury farm stays, boutique rural retreats, places that offer five-star service alongside paddock-to-plate dining, represents one of the most compelling opportunities in Australian tourism property right now. Agritourism is now a $20.3 billion sector in Australia. The visitors engaging with these experiences spend nearly double what typical travellers spend. The sector grew 10% in visitor nights last year, well ahead of overall tourism. International trips involving agritourism surged 15%. Three in four agritourism trips visit regional Australia, driving demand for premium accommodation in places like the Northern Rivers, the Scenic Rim, and Margaret River. As I look at this photo from my stay, I'm reminded that behind every data point about high-spending agritourism visitors, there's someone creating something remarkable in a regional location. Someone backing themselves to offer something different. Full analysis in the article below ⬇️

Farm hospitality just became institutional. Agritourism is now a $14.5B market growing 12% annually. But family offices aren't calling it "agritourism." They're calling it high-yielding, niche real estate with defensible tailwinds and writing 8-figure checks: Properties like: • Blackberry Farm • SingleThread in California • Pendry Natirar outside NYC • Babylonstoren in South Africa These aren’t just farms with rooms. They're vertically integrated hospitality platforms where: • The land produces the food • The food drives the culinary program • The culinary program creates pricing power • The acreage creates scarcity and anchors downside The investment thesis: 1/ OpCo drives value: Michelin-level dining, wellness, and experiential hospitality generate cash flow and brand equity. 2/ PropCo anchors downside: Hundreds or thousands of acres provide collateral and long-term appreciation. 3/ Scarcity creates moat: You can't replicate 5,000 acres in Tennessee or a biodynamic estate in Umbria. These properties tap into two exploding trends: Wellness tourism is hitting $1.35 trillion by 2028. Experiential travel: $3.1 trillion by 2026. The overlap is farm hospitality. Guests pay premium rates to: • Harvest vegetables • Walk regenerative farms • Eat food grown steps from their table • Disconnect from the noise of everyday life Family offices and HNWIs don’t see a niche play. They see a designed platform where: • Revenue compounds (membership models, culinary programs) • Land appreciates (agricultural + hospitality premium) • Operations scale (catering, retail, workshops, events) They're not buying a farm. They're buying a business model with a land moat. Expect more: • Luxury brands entering the category (Soho Farmhouse in Ibiza) • Family office-backed farm estates in high-demand wellness markets • Institutional capital treating this like hospitality infrastructure, not agriculture Farm hospitality isn't alternative real estate. It's the next evolution of experiential hospitality with land that compounds.

🍬 Sweet Tradition Lives On! 🍬 Did you know that in Genoa, Italy, you can still taste sweets made from 18th-century recipes? That's right! Romanengo 1780, the oldest confectionery in Italy, is keeping the authentic tradition of Genoese pastry alive! 🏛️🍭 For over 200 years, Romanengo has been a cornerstone of Genoa's culinary heritage, offering a delightful array of candied fruits, pralines, and sweet treats that have become beloved treasures of the city. ✨🍬 Giuseppe Romanengo, a member of the eighth generation of confectioners and candymakers, proudly upholds the family legacy, passed down through centuries of craftsmanship. 🍬👨🍳 He shares that mastering the art of making confetti, one of their specialties, takes at least five years of dedication! With its roots dating back to 1780, Romanengo's charming shop in Via di Soziglia is a testament to the enduring allure of traditional craftsmanship. Stepping inside feels like a journey back in time, surrounded by antique furnishings and the aroma of freshly made sweets. 🕰️🍬 Genoa's rich history is reflected in its historic shops, each bearing witness to centuries of maritime trade and cultural exchange. Romanengo stands as a shining example, preserving age-old recipes and techniques that have been passed down through generations. 🛍️🍊 While many may opt for French-inspired pastries, Romanengo remains faithful to its Arab roots, using techniques learned from centuries of trade across the Mediterranean. 🌍🍬 But Romanengo's story doesn't end in the past. With new initiatives like the Rolli Experience and expansions into Milan and agricultural ventures in Val di Lemme, the future looks just as sweet! 🌱🍬 In a world of fleeting trends, Romanengo's dedication to preserving authentic flavors and craftsmanship is truly timeless. 🌟🍬 "Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire." - Gustav Mahler 🔥🍬 #Romanengo #Genoa #ItalianTradition #Confectionery #CulinaryHeritage #ArtisanalCraftsmanship #SweetTreats #HistoricShops #AuthenticFlavors #Craftsmanship #SweetTooth #GustavMahlerQuotes #TimelessTaste #FoodCulture #HistoricalLandmarks #ItalianCuisine #SweetMemories #ArtOfConfectionery #TraditionalRecipes #HeritagePreservation