Drop in handicraft sales: Group
AQELA LALAKATO
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Fiji Times, Fiji
INDIGENOUS handicraft sellers are calling on the interim government to help them with their business.
Fijian Craft and Tourist Guide Association president Apakuki Tabuakoro said the sellers had experienced a decrease in sales since the coup.
“Sales from handicraft is not like before,” he said.
“Then sales was thriving and our stalls were always filled with tourists coming to buy. Now it is very rare for them to come by. And the coup has affected our sales.”
Mr Tabuakoro said tourists from cruise liners preferred to go on city tours and did not show much interest in buying handicraft.
For necklace seller Lisa Kumar she sold a few necklaces in the morning.
As any handicraft seller would anticipate when a cruise liner calls in at the Suva wharf, sellers lined the sea wall with their wares. Up to mid-day on Thursday, Mr Tabuakoro collected $100.
Holiday makers flocked the wharf where two cruise liners were berthed.
Tourists of all ages from the Pacific Dawn and the Europa toured the city buying souvenirs.
Mother of two Michella Gatt from Melbourne bought two carved turtles for her children. Ms Gatt and her family are on a 30- night trip on board the Pacific Dawn. Another tourist Harriet Lewis liked the weather very much.
“It is very cold right now where I come from,” said Ms Lewis from America.
She is a singer on board the Europa.
Suva Retailers Association president Himmat Lodhia says handicrafts are what tourists buy the most in Fiji.
“Duty free goods are expensive in Fiji. Tourists get the same items in other countries at a cheap price,” Mr Lodhia said.