BANGKOK, 28 June 2018 Ctrip launched its independent gourmet booking and food rating system, known as the ‘Overseas Gourmet List,’ for the first time in Bangkok.
The Ctrip Gourmet List was first introduced in 2016 to provide travellers with restaurant recommendations and an online table booking service in major cities worldwide.
The Gourmet List covers approximately 15,000 restaurants in 120 popular destinations and continues to expand the restaurant selection and destinations on its platform.
“Bangkok is an important city in Southeast Asia … expressing the rich gourmet culture of Southeast Asia,” said Ctrip Gourmet List CEO Kimi Liu.
So far, 303 restaurants are included in the “Taste the City” Food List of Bangkok, with nine Ctrip Star restaurants (two-star and one-star). The list features 206 “Ctrip Selected” restaurants and 88 “Ctrip Flavour” restaurants.
Restaurants were jointly selected by a 16-strong committee, all food experts, 500 personal judges and 1500 gourmet hunters.
Among them, the Ctrip Gourmet Two-Star restaurant Gaggan also won the first honour in the “TOP 50 Best Restaurants in Asia” List for 2017.
Nearly 100 guests and local restaurants attended the Ctrip Bangkok Gourmet List Launch Ceremony.
According to Ctrip’s 2017 Outbound Travel Report, 20% of Chinese outbound travellers visited Thailand in 2017.
While Thailand is the most popular destination in Southeast Asia for Chinese travellers the 2017 total fell short of Ctrip’s 20% claim even using the conservative 100 million estimate for China’s outbound travel.
“As more Chinese travel to Southeast Asia, the awareness for local specialties and well-known local restaurants will offer travellers a perfect entry point into not just a wonderful gastronomical experience but also a greater understanding and respect for local cuisine culture,” said Kimi Liu.
