Not even the airport is safe from the recession: three of the gift shops in the departure areas are set to close down today and their four staff will all be laid off.The owner Airport Shops Ltd blamed a major fall off in business due in large part to fewer tourists.Travellers will now have to make sure to buy their magazines, newspapers, snacks and small gifts before they get to the airport with the closures of the main gift shop and adjacent apparel store in the US departure area, and the gift and sundries shop in the British Airways lounge.The three shops are all part of Airport Shops Ltd, which has operated them at LF Wade International Airport for some 30 years.The company closed its check-in area gift shop about a year or so ago and it has since been taken over by Bermuda Bookstore.Confirming the four job losses at his stores, Edgard Wilkinson of Airport Shops said: “There’s no business there. This has been coming for quite a while. Business has been dropping in the last few years because very few tourists are coming to Bermuda.”He said he believed Airport managers were working on securing new tenants for the shops, but he said in his opinion the spaces were too large for a viable retail store and there were issues with the layouts.Airport general manager Aaron Adderley could not be reached for comment.Retailer Kristi Grayston agreed business has dropped off at the Airport, where she runs a branch of her Pulp & Circumstance gift store.“Business has dropped off because passenger loads are light,” she said. “We are hoping that things will pick up as we come into the season.”She added that she felt the location of the departure area gift shops did not encourage traffic.Ms Grayston opened Pulp & Circumstance at the aiport in 2008.