Craft market vendors deplore the tourist season’s scarcity

The hospitality and tourism industry is considered to be the largest industry in the world. Its success is judged by economic indicators such as tourism share of employment and gross domestic product or growth in revenues.

Your popular and widely circulated newspaper went around the tourist development area to sample some craft market vendors’ opinion of the season. Aline Njie - vendor at the Bakau Craft Market said this year’s season has proven to be the worst since he ventured into this business. "We will sit for a week or more without seeing any tourist," he lamented. Similar sentiments were expressed by Aja Joko Jammeh, a vendor at the same market, who said that she has been in the business for over 30 years, but never encountered this type of season.

She used the opportunity to thank President Jammeh for re-building the Bakau Craft Market but also appealed to the government to reduce the cost of licence. Lamin Susso, another Bakau Craft Market vendor, agreed with his colleagues. "I am appealing to the government to always organise trade fares so that our products will be more exposed,” he said.

Satou Nakey, a vendor at the Senegambia Craft Market, said this year hasn’t been good for trade. She blamed the global economic crisis for affecting their business. "Most of the tourists at the moment are regular visitors who have already bought our products, therefore they don’t add to business in the market,” she said. According to her, the problem seems to worsen every year. Aunty Rohey Faal said she has been in the business for over 24 years now but never experienced this type of dull business. "