Tourists are increasingly visiting supermarkets: why an ordinary store has become a new attraction
The supermarket, long understood as a place for routine shopping, is increasingly appearing as an unexpected tourist stop. Travelers who once looked for refrigerator magnets, postcards and standardized souvenirs are now spending more and more time among shelves with local snacks, spices, drinks, ready-made meals, chocolates, sauces and products they cannot find in their own everyday lives. What at first glance looks like the most ordinary trip to buy water, breakfast or forgotten toothpaste has turned into a small cultural tour: through prices, packaging, flavors and the layout of the store, a traveler can quickly recognize what is eaten in a country, how much is paid, which products are considered everyday items and which habits shape local life.
In international media and tourism analyses, the trend is increasingly described with expressions such as
grocery store tourism,
supermarket tourism or
snack tourism. In practice, this means that the store is no longer just a practical stop between the hotel and the sights, but part of the itinerary. A visit to a supermarket provides a different kind of insight than a museum, a panoramic viewpoint or a guided tour. Instead of an officially shaped story about the destination, everyday life can be seen there: what people buy after work, what kinds of products are offered to children, how much space ready-made meals take up, which drinks are most visible, how developed the offer of vegetarian, non-alcoholic or locally produced products is, but also how retail chains adapt to the habits of the population.
According to data from Expedia Group’s Unpack ’25 report, 39 percent of surveyed travelers visit local shops or supermarkets while on vacation, while 44 percent buy local products they cannot obtain at home. In the same report, this pattern is connected with a broader trend of travel motivated by goods and experiences related to local products, from teas and coffee to sweets, cosmetics and regional delicacies. Such data show that this is not just a fleeting internet joke, but a broader shift in the way travelers experience a destination. It is becoming less important to bring home an object that symbolizes a place, and increasingly important to take away a taste, scent or product that can be shared, photographed, tasted and connected with a concrete travel experience.
From incidental shopping to a cultural experience
The appeal of supermarkets as a tourist attraction partly stems from their universality. Everyone understands the basic logic of a store: carts, shelves, checkouts, refrigerators, promotions, bread, milk, snacks and products for everyday consumption. Precisely because of this, differences become visible after only a few minutes. In one country, an enormous amount of space may be occupied by the offer of ready-made meals, in another by shelves with teas, in a third by local cheeses, fermented products, rice, pasta, spices or bakery products. A tourist does not have to know the language to notice differences in packaging, prices, package sizes and product selection, and it is precisely these small differences that often remain in memory after a trip.
Unlike classic tourist attractions, a supermarket does not require special preparation, an expensive ticket or a formal tour. One can enter spontaneously, without a reservation, and spend ten minutes or an hour there. This makes it especially attractive to travelers who want an experience that does not feel staged. A store is at the same time everyday and unusual: familiar in function, but new in content. It is precisely this combination that explains why shelves with sweets, local juices, instant soups, spices, chips with unusual flavors or regional spreads have become subjects for photography and posts on social networks.
An important part of the trend is also a change in the understanding of souvenirs. A souvenir no longer has to be a lasting object, but can be a consumable item: a chocolate bar, a bag of coffee, local tea, a bottle of sauce, an unusual flavor of a carbonated drink, a small jar of spices or a packet of biscuits. Such products are often cheaper than goods from souvenir shops, but can carry a stronger impression of authenticity because they are not necessarily produced for tourists. Their value is not in luxury, but in the story: where they were bought, what the shelves looked like, what was unusual, which flavor was surprising and why something seemed typical of the country in which it was purchased.
Social networks have turned shelves into content
Social networks, especially TikTok and Instagram, have played an important role in spreading this travel pattern. Short videos from stores fit easily into a format that audiences quickly understand: the author walks among shelves, shows unusual products, compares prices, tastes local snacks or comments on packaging that differs from that in his country. Such content does not require a luxury hotel or a spectacular location; a product that looks different, a flavor that sounds unexpected or an everyday situation that seems interesting in another cultural context is enough.
The British Evening Standard wrote as early as 2024 about the virality of visits to foreign supermarkets, stating that social media users had begun treating stores as essential places for exploring local products. This also changed the perception of what is worth showing on a trip. Instead of publishing only famous sights, people are increasingly publishing shelves with candies, refrigerators with ready-made meals, local bakeries inside stores or unusual flavors of well-known brands adapted to a particular market. The supermarket thus becomes an easily recognizable, entertaining and accessible frame of tourist everyday life.
This trend does not mean that travelers are giving up museums, architecture, natural landmarks or restaurants. Rather, it is about expanding the idea of what travel can be. The tourist experience is no longer limited to places that are formally designated as attractions. An attraction can also become something that the local population uses every day, but that feels new to the traveler. In that sense, the supermarket functions as an unofficial guide through habits: it shows how much sweet food is eaten, how much convenience is valued, what the attitude toward health is, how visible local producers are and how global brands adapt to different markets.
Cheaper than a souvenir shop, more accessible than a restaurant
One of the most important reasons for the popularity of supermarket tourism is its price. At a time when travel is burdened by rising costs of accommodation, transport, food and tickets, the store offers an experience that is accessible to almost everyone. A traveler can buy several local products for an amount that is often significantly lower than the price of a meal in a restaurant or a souvenir in a tourist zone. At the same time, he also gets a practical benefit: breakfast for the next day, snacks for an excursion, a drink for a walk or a product he can take home.
The supermarket is attractive also because it reduces the risk of disappointment. A restaurant can be expensive, overcrowded or adapted to tourists, while a store offers a broader cross-section of local consumption. Of course, a supermarket is not a completely neutral representation of society either: the selection of products depends on the chain, location, purchasing power of the neighborhood and the retailer’s strategy. Still, something can be seen there that is difficult to see in a souvenir shop: products intended for everyday customers. That is why many travelers experience stores as a more accessible and more direct window into the life of a destination.
The trend is also connected with growing interest in food tourism, but in a less formal way. Traditional gastro-tourism is often linked to restaurants, markets, wine tours, cooking workshops or famous local specialties. The supermarket introduces a different dimension: industrial products, everyday brands, ready-made meals, seasonal promotions and products that the local population truly buys when there is no time for a restaurant. This does not have to be a romantic image of the destination, but it is often very informative. Precisely for this reason, an ordinary store can show more about the rhythm of everyday life than a carefully shaped tourist offer.
What products say about a country
Supermarket shelves can reveal a series of social and economic details. Prices of basic groceries speak of purchasing power and living costs, the variety of ready-made meals of the pace of work and eating habits, the offer of local products of the attitude toward domestic production, and the breadth of departments with non-alcoholic drinks, coffee, teas or bakery products of everyday rituals. In some destinations, travelers will immediately notice a strong snack culture, in others the importance of fresh food, and in others the dominance of practical packages for singles, office workers or families.
Packaging also has its own story. Product design, the language on labels, quality marks, health claims, emphasis on local origin and package size show how the market addresses the customer. For a traveler, this can be just as interesting as the taste itself. Even well-known global products often have local variants: different flavors of chips, chocolate, carbonated drinks, instant noodles or biscuits. Precisely such products often go viral because they combine the familiar and the unfamiliar. The customer recognizes the brand, but is surprised by the local adaptation.
For newer generations of travelers, the possibility of sharing the experience is also important. A product from a supermarket is easy to photograph, simple to describe and can be tasted in front of the camera. Unlike a postcard, an edible souvenir enables a reaction: liking, surprise, comparison, recommendation or a joke. This is content that naturally fits into the digital culture of travel, in which personal experience is often built through small, easily transferable details. That is why snacks, sauces and drinks are increasingly taking on the role that classic souvenirs once had.
The tourism industry is following the change in habits
Tourism companies and media are following this shift more carefully because it shows that travelers are looking for experiences that are accessible, everyday and locally rooted. In the Unpack ’25 report, Expedia Group speaks of travelers who deliberately seek goods and products they cannot find at home, while international tourism media increasingly connect supermarket tourism with the search for authenticity and different souvenirs. Condé Nast Traveler, in its preview of travel trends for 2026, also ranks visits to local stores among travel patterns that fit into the broader demand for more personal and more practical experiences.
This also has consequences for destinations. Cities and regions that want to present themselves through gastronomy no longer depend only on restaurants and markets. Local products in stores, if they are clearly highlighted and accessible, can become part of a tourist identity. Small producers, regional brands and specific flavors can gain visibility precisely because travelers find them in an everyday environment and then talk about them on social networks. In that sense, the supermarket can become an unplanned exhibition of food culture, but also a channel for promoting local products.
At the same time, there is also a more cautious side to the story. When everyday places are turned into tourist spots, crowds, photographing without regard for other customers or the superficial turning of local everyday life into a backdrop for content can appear. A supermarket is not a museum, but a workplace for employees and a place where people do necessary shopping. That is why this form of tourism relies most of all on simple rules of decency: not disturbing other customers, not filming people without permission, not creating crowds in aisles and respecting the fact that for the local population it is an ordinary store, not a stage.
Why an ordinary store has become a symbol of modern travel
The popularity of supermarket tourism shows how the definition of an interesting trip has changed. Travelers no longer seek only what is monumental, official and historical, but also what is everyday, usable and comparable. The supermarket enables exactly such a comparison. There, it can quickly be seen what is different, what is cheaper or more expensive, what is popular, what is seasonal, what is advertised and what is considered a normal part of the diet. This experience may be short, but it leaves a concrete impression because it is connected with the senses: taste, smell, color, texture and price.
At the center of the trend is also the desire for a less predictable souvenir. A magnet with the name of a city almost always carries the same message, while a local spice, candy or drink calls for an explanation. Why that particular product? Where was it bought? Was it popular? What does it taste like? Such a souvenir does not necessarily stand on a shelf for years, but it can start a conversation and convey part of the atmosphere of the trip. That is its strength: it does not represent the destination as a symbol, but as an experience.
The supermarket has therefore become a new tourist attraction not because it has suddenly become spectacular, but because travelers have learned to look at ordinary places differently. In a store, economy, culture, marketing, habits, globalization and local identity meet. It shows how people really shop, what they consider tasty, practical or worth the money. For a traveler who wants to understand a destination beyond standard postcard motifs, visiting a local store can be one of the simplest and cheapest ways to get closer to the everyday life of the place in which he is staying.
Sources:- Expedia Group – Unpack ’25 report on travel trends, including data on visits to supermarkets and purchases of local products (link)- Expedia – PDF edition of the Unpack ’25 report with data on local delicacies, stores and the “Goods Getaways” trend (link)- Condé Nast Traveler – overview of travel trends for 2026, including grocery store tourism as a form of accessible cultural experience (link)- Evening Standard – explanation of the viral trend of visiting supermarkets while traveling and its spread on social networks (link)- Time Out – analysis of the growing popularity of supermarkets as new “it” destinations among travelers on social networks (link)- Tasting Table – explanation of why visiting stores gives travelers insight into everyday eating habits and local products (link)
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