Street Food and Tourism: A Southeast Asian Perspective

Abstract

Street cooked food hawking is traditional across much of Southeast Asia and continues to be prevalent. The chapter examines the distinctive qualities of street food and its contribution to tourism with specific reference to the region. Attention is given to the place of street food in destination marketing and attempts at regulation to protect both vendors and customers. The cases of Singapore and Ho Chi Minh City are used as illustrations of contrasting conditions and approaches. Street food emerges as a representation of the local and a counter to the homogenisation of cuisine attendant on globalising forces; as such, it is of interest to tourists and worthy of conservation. It is also a dynamic concept and practice which is evolving in response to economic, sociocultural and political trends and at some risk in modern Asian cities.