Out of the 33 handicraft stalls in Nadi, only eight remain open.

Out of the 33 handicraft stalls in Nadi, only eight remain open.

FBC News visited the handicraft sellers yesterday and noticed first hand that a majority of the shops were closed.

Venders say their businesses have been hit hard by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nitilesh Gosai says they depended mainly on tourists for their daily income.

“Two weeks we don’t make any sales and our business it’s very quiet for us now. There’s also plenty things that we have to do like for our household, the electricity bill, rent, stall fees and more things.”

FBC News understands that with travel restrictions in place globally and no tourists allowed in the country, shop owners have had no choice but to close down as they were running at a loss.

Rishi Nand who has been based at the handicraft center for more than 30 years says this will be the first time that he might have to close up shop.

“Yeah we have to go home and plant some vegetables in the backyard, have to do somethings to survive.”

Nand says the worry now for them is that they do not know when their business will return to normal.

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