AT NOON, 75-year-old Melecia Moreno carefully straightens rows of seashell keychains and chandeliers at her small stall inside the Liberty Shrine in Barangay Mactan, Lapu-Lapu City, hoping passing tourists will stop by.
On a good day, she earns P300 to P400, barely enough to cover daily expenses — a sharp contrast to decades ago, when her stall helped fund her four children’s college education.
The once-thriving seashell souvenir trade at the Liberty Shrine has declined, affected by shifting tourism patterns and the lingering impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Moreno, a vendor since the 1970s, recalled in an interview with SunStar Cebu on Feb. 17, 2026, days when shell crafts and souvenirs provided enough income to send her children to college.
At present, even occasional sales above P1,000 fall far short of the P3,000 to P10,000 she earned before the pandemic. Sales are usually highest on Mondays and remain relatively strong through Friday and Saturday, but slow from Tuesday to Thursday.
Shaking her head sideways, Moreno described the daily challenge of making ends meet: “Masigmuyo lang gyud mi kay nihinay man ang halin namo kay kuwang na intawn… Budget nalang gyud taman, kung di ka mag budget wa gyud kay mahimo.”
(We’re disappointed because our sales have dropped so much… It’s just not enough anymore. We have to carefully budget because if we don’t, there’s no way we can make ends meet.)
Another longtime vendor, Leni (real name withheld), 61, said daily earnings fluctuate from P40 to P200. She said tourists do not always buy, making it difficult even to afford basic necessities like rice.
Despite shrinking profits, both continue mainly because it has been their livelihood for nearly five decades.
Decline of a once-bustling trade
Minerva Romande, focal person of the Mactan Shrine Souvenir Vendors Association Inc., which represents 30 vendors, in a separate interview said the trade began faltering during the Covid-19 pandemic, when the local tourist site temporarily closed.
Stalls that once earned P13,000 to P20,000 daily, particularly from T-shirts, now earn far less.
“Wala pa gyud siya nabalik kung unsa among halin sa una tungod atong Covid-19 pero di man gyud ka kaingon na zero ni-decline lang siya pero naa raman gihapon mabuhi raman gihapon,” said Romande, adding that the souvenir stalls remain a familiar presence for tourists.
(It hasn’t really returned to what our sales were before because of Covid-19, but you can’t really say it’s zero, it just declined, but we can still make a living, we can still survive.)
The decline mirrors broader tourism trends.
Passenger traffic at Mactan-Cebu International Airport plummeted during the pandemic, falling from 12.7 million in 2019 to 2.78 million in 2020 and 1.37 million in 2021 due to lockdowns and travel restrictions.
Domestic travelers dropped from 8.37 million to 1.16 million, while international passengers fell sharply from 4.29 million to just 167,571.
Traffic began to recover in 2022, reaching 5.58 million, and rebounded further to 11.71 million in 2025, with domestic travel leading the resurgence.
EdTours
Beyond Covid-19, other factors contributed to the decline: fewer educational tours, fast-paced tourist itineraries and limited accessibility of the stalls, said Romande.
On Olango Island, local artisans also felt the impact of Covid-19 and typhoon Odette, citing high start-up costs and the doubling of material prices.
She added that the steady drop in educational tours, once considered the vendors’ “bread and butter,” used to bring in significant daily customers.
Peak periods occur from December to January, during special events, and when foreign or Korean visitors arrive. Sales are slowest in June and on days without tour groups.
Data from the City Tourism Office shows that the Liberty Shrine recorded a total of 96,209 tourist visitors in 2025.
The highest visitor contributions came from school field trips in May (14.4 percent), Kadaugan sa Mactan in April (12.4 percent) and the Ironman 70.3 event in August (10.7 percent), while the lowest numbers were recorded in February (5.9 percent) and June (six percent).
Meanwhile, Lapu-Lapu City welcomed 682,108 tourists in 2025, an increase from 2024 of 518,612 Filipino and foreign visitors, marking a 31.53 percent growth rate.
Revival: Evolving beyond shells
Despite challenges, the City Government is working to revive Lapu-Lapu’s shellcraft industry.
City Tourism head Garry Lao said the renovated Lapu-Lapu Gallery in Barangay Gun-ob, scheduled to reopen in March or April, will feature local shellcraft and other local products such as the guitars.
He also plans to have vendors provide demonstrations on crafting items like shell necklaces at the shrine. Vendors are also encouraged to join large events and tourist circuits, offering a “one-stop-shop” experience at the shrine and hotels.
Romande said that vendors have diversified and continue to innovate their products in response to changing demand.
Moreno now offers fridge magnets, wallets, polo shirts, dasters and statues of Datu Lapulapu, while Leni focuses on keychains. The decade-old vendors said adaptability is crucial, especially amid competition from other shops and destinations.
Among top-selling items is the “Bubod” bracelet (P100), a personalized accessory popular among Korean tourists and students attending English academies.
Creating a bracelet takes three to six minutes depending on the number of letters embroidered.
Generational trade, integrity
Even as foot traffic dwindles and daily earnings uncertain, vendors maintain integrity by keeping prices fair.
Romande, who oversees the association’s vendors, said the seashell trade is more than profit—it’s a legacy that has supported vendors’ children’s education and helped her finish college.
“It keeps us going because I think this is our mission. Kay diri naman mi nabuhi, although mao ni rain or shine laban lang, kay part na siya sa daily life ba,” said Romande.
(It keeps us going because I think this is our mission. Because this is how we make a living, although rain or shine, we just keep fighting because it’s already part of daily life.)
Many vendors remain hopeful that the trade can endure.
For Moreno, she still sees a future for the business, noting that tourists continue to seek souvenirs. Her eldest daughter has expressed interest in following in her footsteps, while her other children have settled abroad.
Leni, meanwhile, is concerned about unstable income and whether the business can be passed on to her two children.
For decades, the soft clink of seashell wind chimes and the steady hum of sales filled the historic Liberty Shrine. Today, that familiar rhythm has quieted, leaving vendors wondering if the bustling marketplace will ever return.