In the Taste Atlas Awards 2024 ranking, three Mexican cities are among the best cities for eating in the world. This ranking is measured through the votes of food industry experts such as chefs, critics, and specialists who taste dishes from different countries around the world. The results are obtained based on their ratings of all the important cities in this field.
This 2024, the best-positioned city in the Latin American ratings table is Guadalajara with a score of 4.64 out of 5, improving its position from last year.
The best-positioned cities in our country this year are as follows:
– 12th Guadalajara with a score of 4.64
– 38th Cancún with a score of 4.53
– 41st Mexico City (CDMX) with a score of 4.52
– 51st Mérida with a score of 4.47
– 57th Puerto Vallarta with a score of 4.44
– 85th Puebla de Zaragoza with a score of 4.37
– 96th Tulum with a score of 4.35
Having a better gastronomic offer within a country improves the chances of international tourism arriving to enjoy more options for better experiences in the visited city, which is basically what a visitor traveling the world is looking for. It also improves the quality-of-life experience for people living in each city and for those evaluating where to live in the world, such as the so-called world citizens, who are currently mostly digital nomads, not limited by a border to live somewhere.
But let’s analyze how juicy the restaurant business is in our country and how much it contributes to the national economy. Business owners in the sector are grouped within the National Chamber of the Restaurant and Seasoned Foods Industry (CANIRAC), which fights for better working conditions in the sector and makes measurements to keep the pulse of the sector updated, apart from the measurements made by the government for economic measurement purposes that are normally carried out.
It is expected that this year the industry will return to post-pandemic economic levels, where the industry is worth just over 300,000 MDP, and from this year onwards, growth is expected, unlike the other pandemic years, increasing by an additional 4% annually. More than 80,000 new units are expected to grow.
In post-pandemic times, consumers have become more rational about food. Instead of paying more for common meals, they buy by portion, being more flexible and austere, unless they are really paying for the experience provided by the place where they are consuming.
One benefit of having world-class restaurants is the so-called gastronomic tourism, which benefits various aspects of a country’s life, such as: discovering new flavors by tourists; learning new recipes influenced by the ingredients of the visited place; integrating more into the culture of the place being visited, understanding it better; supporting the local economy, and expanding knowledge about the culinary art of the region.
Tourism has been growing after the pandemic, and at this moment, our neighbor and partner, the United States, is the main generator of tourists to our country to the various destinations that Mexico has. From this year onwards, more than 2 billion visitors are expected in the country, and of course, the three best-positioned cities among those with the best kitchens, Guadalajara, Mexico City, and Cancún, will have better chances to generate higher incomes from visitors.
Source: A Fondo Jalisco
