However, tourists are increasingly adding a rather more ordinary stop to their itineraries: the supermarket.

The growing interest in exploring grocery stores while travelling has been dubbed “grocery tourism” and is becoming part of a wider search for more everyday, local experiences.

As reported by the BBC, supermarkets and convenience stores are attracting visitors who want to see what people actually buy, eat and use in their daily lives.

Travel report

A 2026 travel report found that 77 percent of tourists enjoy visiting supermarkets abroad, while Condé Nast Traveller established supermarket tourism as a travel trend this year.

A supermarket offers a snapshot of life in a particular country, from unfamiliar brands and flavours to different packaging, snacks and products that may not be available back home.

For tourists, even an otherwise mundane shopping trip can become part of the holiday, as a visit to 7-Eleven in Tokyo might involve hunting for its popular egg sandwiches, while a trip to Mercadona in Barcelona can offer a glimpse into the products and shopping habits of Spanish consumers.

According to the BBC, consumer psychologist Kate Nightingale, founder of Humanising Brands, links the trend to a desire for experiences that feel more authentic and less carefully designed for tourists.

Nightingale says walking through a foreign supermarket can give visitors the chance to imagine themselves living locally, without booking a tour or visiting a purpose-built attraction.

Memory association

Charles Spence, a professor of experimental psychology at Oxford, told the BBC that our surroundings can affect how we perceive what we eat.

A snack or drink discovered while travelling may become associated with the weather, surroundings and emotions of the trip, meaning it can feel different when enjoyed again at home.

For retailers, this creates another opportunity to become part of the travel experience.

An unusual product, distinctive packaging or a flavour unavailable in the visitor’s home country can turn an ordinary purchase into something worth remembering, photographing and sharing online.

Emerging phenomenon

The phenomenon has even started appearing on tourism platforms.

In Finland, K-Supermarket has reportedly become the first supermarket chain to have stores listed on Tripadvisor as tourist attractions. One of the highlighted locations in Helsinki has beehives on its roof, with the honey produced there forming part of the store’s offering.

Yet the popularity of grocery tourism also raises an unusual problem: too many tourists can undermine the very thing that attracted them in the first place.

A Lawson convenience store in Kawaguchiko, Japan, became particularly popular because of the view of Mount Fuji visible behind the shop, but visitor numbers eventually became so high that crowd-control measures, including barriers and security staff, were introduced.

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