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Comments (4)
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Save/ShareMany travelers prize an authentic, locally sourced souvenir.
I define "souvenir" as something you buy during a trip as a memento. It doesn't have to be sold at a tourist gift shop.Is it important to you that your souvenir be made locally? If so, why? Is it because you want to support local businesses? Or to accurately capture what the local vibe is like?
Souvenirs have become political in our nation's capital—surprise, surprise. Congressmen have pressured the National Museum of American History to stock only "made in the U.S.A." products. Soon, the shelves of one of the museum's gift shops will only sell American goods, reports the Washington Post.
But there's a wider relevance here to the question of where souvenirs come from.
If you're traveling a great distance on your precious vacation time—here or abroad—would you want to buy a memento that is different from what you can get at your hometown shopping mall?
When vacationing in Venice, would you want glassware made at the local factories of Murano, instead of in China?
Ditto for rug shopping in Istanbul.
Shopping local is a way to help the businesses that give a place the qualities worth visiting.
Please speak up in the comments. Do you look for authentic, locally sourced goods when shopping on a vacation?
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Supermarket Souvenirs: Five globe-trotting shoppers share their unusual goodies from around the world.
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it depends what makes one happy,definitely locally sourced are more heart pleasing.
Posted By Mohammad Neyaz hasan on March 29, 2011, 1:39 PM
I don't understand why requiring souvenirs from our country's national museums to be US-made is called political. Why would anyone think a souvenir of America made in China is appropriate? I bought beautiful aprons in Italy with great fruit and vegetable prints to give as Italian souvenir gifts when I got home. I was SO mad when I got home and realized they were made in China. I still gave them, but it was now a joke. I felt really ripped off.
I often shop in hardware stores or home goods shops for good souvenirs in other countries. A locally made tea towel or apron is a great gift...if it's authentic.
Posted By S dushane on March 29, 2011, 6:00 PM
YES - Every traveler should have the opportunity to buy something from the place being visited. As the owner of a gift shop in a tourist area, I offer locally made items to take back home. I do this becasue I know that when I travel, this is what I look for, somthing special about where I visited. Right now I am the only store in my town that does this. Support the local economy is very important even when getting a souvenir.
Posted By Terese on March 31, 2011, 1:42 PM
I just opened an Irish gift shop in NY, and I've been more and more surprised by the amount of "Irish" product that comes out of China. I've been trying to stick with items that I know to be crafted in Ireland, and if not then here in the U.S. The sad part is: people want to pay little money for "cultural" product. So, they ultimately walk out of the store with "crap" from China instead of pure, long-lasting fine craft.
I think it's great that the museum will have Made in USA souvenirs. It's only right.
Posted By Celtic Mack on March 31, 2011, 3:30 PM