goodmorningpapua.com – A number of handicrafts made from crocodile leather can be a unique souvenir choice for the audience and the contingent of the National Sports Week (PON) XX Papua.
Pardianto, one of the craftsmen who opened a semi-permanent stand in front of the entrance of GOR Mimika Sport Complex, Mimika, Papua, is optimistic that the crocodile leather craft he offers will attract visitors.
“Because this is a typical Mimika craft. It’s quite rare to find crafts from this crocodile skin,” said Pardianto, Friday, October 1, 2021.
The middle-aged man who has been in the profession as a craftsman since the early 2000s sells various kinds of crocodile skin crafts, ranging from wallets, belts, tote bags, to suitcases.
The prices offered vary, the cheapest is Rp. 400 thousand, while the most expensive is Rp. 7 million. Pardianto said that wallets and bags are the most popular souvenirs.
Pardianto usually sells crocodile leatrher handicrafts in galleries or exhibitions. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, he admitted that he often participated in exhibitions to Jakarta and a number of cities on the island of Java.
However, since the Covid-19 pandemic, he has practically only relied on sales from tourists visiting his gallery.
Pardianto was also very grateful for the event of PON XX which arouse Mimika Regency back.
He hopes that sales can be boosted again, considering that during the pandemic his income decreased drastically by 75 percent.
“With the PON XX Papua, I can show off again the crafts that I make. For my sales target, I don’t target,” he said.