Wednesday, January 17, 2007 Tourists prefer to buy Davao's native products By Joy Romares-Sevilla
A DAVAO-based dealer of wood carvings and other native products revealed that those produced in Davao Region attracted more buyers as compared to those coming from Cebu, Manila, and Baguio.
Helen L. Sahidsahid, supervisor of the Bomo Gifts and Souvenir at Gaisano Mall of Davao branch, said foreign tourists and local customers prefer to buy Davao-made carvings and native products made of bamboo and coco wood.
"Nag-i-expect na kami this year na maraming order especially sa Araw ng Dabaw at Kadayawan. May mga actual buyers din naman, may mga Canadians, British and other rforeign tourists," Sahidsahid said.
She claimed that there are already 14 branches of Bomo in the Visayas and in Mindanao, four of which are located in Davao City -- SM Davao, Gaisano Citi Mall, Victoria Plaza, and Gaisano Mall of Davao.
It is also aiming to establish Bomo in Palawan.
"Pinili talaga namin na sa mga malls mag-display kasi pag dito safe ka, at saka kinu-consider din namin ang mga kinds of customers na bibili," she said.
Sahidsahid added that Bomo focuses on its local market this year since it does not have the capacity to go in export activities.
"Wala pa kaming plano na mag-export kasi ang mga supplier namin mga natives, ngayon pa nga lang na local market pa kami, nahihirapan na sila pag madalian ang order," she said.
Meanwhile, Bomo is offering native products for as low as P29 (keychain), while it has a wall carving that costs as much as P3,000 from Baguio.
Bomo aims to introduce Filipino-made native products and to encourage people to patronize it.
Meanwhile, Sahidsahid claimed that Bomo, as one of the identified database small and medium enterprise (SME) of the regional office of the Department of Trade and Industry, is also receiving invitations from the agency to join trade fairs.
"Pag may mga promotions sila at may mga trade fairs, ini-inform nila kami and ini-invite nila kami na magsali, kung hindi naman kami nakakapunta, kinukuha nila ang mga products namin para i-display," Sahidsahid said.
