Some people just like to go for sightseeing and tour when they visit new towns and cities while others along with these like to hoard and buy local crafts. Vacation shopping is a lot of fun and most people love to go on a shopping spree while on holiday. The Pacific is increasingly becoming a shopping hub across the world with shopping festivals in major cities. Turks and Caicos is no exception when it comes to shopping culture!
Turks and Caicos is an attractive shopping place, especially for those looking to return home with luxury goods such as jewelry and perfume, as there is no imposed sales tax or luxury tax, and many items are offered duty-free after qualifying occurences. Aside from shops at the airports, there are a few other locations that offer duty-free shopping to the United States and Canadian travelers who have stayed on the island for a certain period of time.
United States residents can make purchases up to the value of US$800 as long as they have been on the island for more than 48 hours; if shopping after less than two days, you are allowed up to US$200 of duty-free purchases. Canadian residents are allowed to make US$750-worth of purchases after a stay of seven days, or US$400 after two days.
Turks and Caicos uses United States dollars (Canadian dollars are not be accepted). British citizens are not offered any duty-free shopping, since Turks and Caicos is an external territory of the Unied Kingdom. Neither are any other EU citizens as a result of European Union trade and tax agreements.
Duty-free goods can be purchased at a few outlets on the island of Providenciales, as well as in the airports. For example, you can see boutique shops that sell luxury products, such as jewelry, electronics, perfumery, and liquor, at stores situated around the Grace Bay area. Most of the stores are grouped together in malls or shopping streets such as Caicos Café Plaza, La Petite Place, Ports of Call, Regents Village, and Saltmills. There’re also stores in the central areas, such as Central Square and Graceway Plaza.
If you are seeking a unique souvenir, you may wish to consider buying some conch shell products. Conch is historically and culturally significant for Turks and Caicos. It is a specialty of the local cuisine, and the islands’ most popular export. You can purchase jewelry crafted from the shells or from the rare conch pearls.
If you prefer, you can also by the complete shells, which make for wonderful ornaments around the home. Indeed, Turks and Caicos is one of the few countries in the world where you are allowed to buy and export the beautiful conch shells, although travelerss are limited to three per person. Aside from conch shell jewelry, you may wish to purchase other handcrafted jewelry and artwork as a memento of your stay.
