One of the worst things about any vacation is being harassed by local traders. It’s bad enough when they shout at you as you walk by, not deterred by your ignoring them they shout louder making a comment that clearly identifies you in the crowd of other tourists, but when if they follow you, or come up to you when you’re clearly not wanting to be disturbed, it’s enough to make you wish you’d went somewhere else! For the most part however, there are some simple things you can do to avoid being constantly pestered.
The first one is not to make eye contact with any of them, especially if you see them trying to sell to someone else. They are bound to take your eye contact to mean that you’re interested in buying from them, and will come after you once they’ve finished trying to sell to the people they’re with. If you’re in a market area, or even just minding your own business on the beach, don’t stare at anyone! You have to keep looking around, but don’t look long enough in any one direction to give the hustlers the wrong idea!
The next is simply to make it a policy never to give money or anything else for that matter to anyone who asks for it. If you are in an area of high poverty, it’s not easy to turn away from the children, but the mistake that many tourists make is in giving something to these children, and then more children arrive and the grown-ups follow. As harsh as it sounds, for your own peace and quiet you have to turn away.
Many hotels are situated on private land that they own and it is illegal for the hustlers to try and harass the hotel visitors. Find out the policy your hotel has on day 1, and if you are bothered anywhere within the confines of the hotel property, you can tell the vendor that you will report them to the hotel staff if they bother you again.
Last of all, and probably the most wearing, but it will work is that the hustlers make their living by harassing people. They hope that by persistently dogging you, they’ll wear you down and you’ll buy from them just to make them go away. Do so, and you’re sending up a flare to the other vendors! Be calm and equally persistent in your right to ignore them. Eventually they’ll find another tourist to bother and leave you alone – and hopefully will get the message that they’ll be wasting their time with you and won’t try again!