In recent years, hotel dining has reached a point where it’s no longer just about filling tables or serving silver-cluttered continental courses. In today’s travel ecosystem, space, story, and local identity happily come together in what is quietly shaping up to be a deliberate evolution.
At the Manila Marriott Hotel at Newport World Resorts, Marriott International recently unveiled its annual white paper, the ‘Future of Food Asia Pacific 2027.’ The study offers a comprehensive look at the shifting appetites of modern travelers across Asia Pacific (not counting China). The result of a collaborative survey of 284 participating properties alongside chefs, restaurant operators, and designers, the report serves as a roadmap for one of the world’s largest food and beverage operations, covering more than 1,500 restaurants and bars.
In an interview with BusinessMirror, Petr Raba, Vice President of Food and Beverage for Marriott International APEC, provided insights into the broader consumer shifts and the core rationale behind these emerging trends.
Raba actually helped open Manila Marriott in 2009 and worked on the design of its grand ballroom. Having spent 15 years in Asia and worked across four continents, Raba understands how food deeply defines a destination.
‘We started this about three years ago to identify what the trends are within the industry. Being one of the largest restaurant operators with 1,500-plus restaurants and bars, we have a lot of customers visiting us every single day. We want to understand what customers’ expectations are, what they want moving forward, and how we can adapt to stay ahead of the trends,’ Raba noted.
Spatial dining and micro-concepts
ONE of the key shifts underscored by Raba and his team during the unveiling is what they refer to as ‘the spatial shift.’
As food is no longer confined to rigid restaurant layouts, roughly 45 percent of guests seek unique dining experiences across non-traditional areas like lobby lounges, al fresco spaces, and poolside venues. To optimize these environments, Marriott is championing the idea of a ‘micro-concept within the concept’ or as Raba puts it, ‘how a simple venue can transform into a more specialized, limited-seating restaurant, optimizing space for a more exclusive setup.’
‘A lot of customers today are looking into different spaces for dining. What is the sweet spot? Is it 40 to 50 seats in the restaurant where you can interact, engage, and provide great experiences? How do we design restaurants for breakfast, and what happens after? How can we make them smaller and maybe focused on a specific cuisine?’
A prime example of this concept was the transformation of the GreatRoom’s al fresco area at Manila Marriott into the Selva Shrimp House, an interactive, sustainable platform dedicated to responsible seafood sourcing and environmental awareness.
Authentic localization and ‘The Rise of Place’
WHILE modern design and spatial flexibility provide structure, the soul of the experience remains tied to native ingredients and heritage cooking. According to Marriott’s report, the single strongest trend across participating properties involves 95 percent of guests demanding local signature dishes.
‘Travelers tend to resonate more with moments unique to their destinations, hence the increase in demand for regional cuisine,’ says Raba. ‘Ingredients, meals, drinks, and wellness traditions are becoming central to what they value. Local dishes are requested three times more than Asian and Western cuisine.’
Local ingredients, destination-driven storytelling, and spatial design converge all conspire in placing emphasis on authentic localization consistent with the study’s overarching theme, ‘The Rise of Place.’
‘The Rise of Place is a combination of findings from the report. It’s about the spatial shift, the rise of local cuisine, and the destination itself, where people want to have different experiences in unique spaces,’ Raba further explained.
‘Wherever I go, I always eat local,’ Raba himself reveals. ‘I always ask the team to take me where they go, not in a fancy restaurant, but whether it’s a food stall, a food truck, or a hole-in-the-wall restaurant where they have the best single dish. That’s always what I like to eat.’
From 99-minute fine dining to wellness eating
BEYOND spatial design and local flavors, the Future of Food 2027 report outlines several operational shifts catering to modern lifestyles:
The 99-Minute Fine Dining: Recognizing that modern travelers have packed itineraries yet still desire elevated culinary storytelling, hotel kitchens are condensing traditional marathon tasting menus.
‘People are busy, but they want to have great experiences in a shorter period of time,’ says Raba. ‘How do we deliver the four-hour, 15-course meal in a smaller form, maybe in 99 minutes, where you still have great dishes, great ingredients, and great stories around the food?’
Eat Well and Spirit-Free: Health and mindful consumption continue to rise, with 43 percent of guests preferring nutritious options and 40 percent seeking sugar-free items. Additionally, 77 percent of Philippine properties reported a surge in low- or no-alcohol beverage sales.
billboards do the job socmed
‘People are drinking less,’ Raba observes. ‘In the Philippines, 77 percent of hotels saw an increase in low- or no-alcohol sales. We’ve made a spirit-free program available so our hotels can execute delicious, good-looking cocktails that go far beyond the standard Virgin Mojito.’
Solo Dining and Multi-Sampling: With a significant rise in solo travelers, menus are pivoting toward smaller, shareable, or multi-sample portions.
‘We see a huge rise in solo diners,’ Raba points out. ‘How can we deliver these experiences for them? Maybe a smaller portion where you can try five local dishes instead of having one big dish.’
Sinagtala takes center stage
‘Filipino cuisine is great, but it needs a little bit more amplification outside of the Philippines,’ Raba pointed out.
Raba noted that while Filipino cuisine possesses immense depth, it remains an underrated treasure globally that deserves wider international spotlighting.
To help address this, Marriott introduced the Sinagtala Philippine Culinary Arts Program. Borne out of an internal competition among Marriott chefs across the Philippines, Sinagtala institutionalizes regional classics.
The resulting ‘Sinagtala Recipe Book,’ curated alongside Director of Culinary Chef Meik Brammer, showcases winning entries from various properties: Clark Marriott’s Pork Adobo, The Westin Manila’s Vegetable Kare-Kare and Sisig, and Manila Marriott’s Sinigang na Hipon and Chicken Inasal.
‘We invited all the chefs to compete and create the best pork adobo, sisig, and kare-kare, and put them all together in a recipe book. What we want to do now is take this and make it available in all our hotels across Asia Pacific so they can run Filipino promotions and put these signature dishes on their menus,’ Raba enthused.
For local food enthusiasts wanting to experience these findings firsthand, the Future of Food x Sinagtala Buffet runs exclusively at the Manila Marriott Hotel through December 2026-offering guests a direct taste of where regional heritage meets the future of hotel dining.