Taste, Travel & the Indian Experience: Reclaiming the Diplomacy of the Senses

"Our similarities are way more than our differences. And our differences are just there to keep things interesting."

- By Virat Bahri

In the grand theatre of geopolitics, not every handshake is made of protocol and power. People-to-people connections can, in fact, go a very long way. Tourism and culinary diplomacy — the art of building bridges through experiences — are proving to be among the most powerful instruments of nation branding in the 21st century.

A recent Bloom Consulting study estimated that perceptions of a nation's image contribute nearly 1% of global GDP (US$934 billion), influencing flows of tourism, investment, and trade. Another study published in Sustainability (2024) found that tourism expenditure, exports, and FDI are statistically significant drivers of a stronger nation brand. In simpler terms, people invest, travel, and trade with countries they like.

That makes tourism and culinary diplomacy more than cultural niceties — they are strategic assets. Thailand's Global Thai program tripled the number of Thai restaurants worldwide and boosted exports of ingredients and tourism revenues. Peru turned its cuisine into a global phenomenon, linking food festivals and gastronomy tours that have been credited for growth in agricultural exports. Japan used the washoku tradition to secure UNESCO heritage status and reposition itself as a land of aesthetic refinement and harmony. So soft power isn't soft at all — it's a slow-cooked strategy.

Rediscovering what makes India, India