Community Craft Centres – Grenada

Community Craft Centres – Grenada Stakeholder Consultations - Phase 2

Craft Marketing & Development • New approach: encompasses Grenada’s natural, cultural and historic features by integrating popular tourist sites and attractions with rural craft marketing facilities • Opportunities include: markets and distribution channels, employment in rural sectors, linkages to community tourism • Challenges include: applying a business-orientation to the crafts sector, new promotional strategies and a new institutional approach

Overall Objective • Transform Grenada’s “cottage industry” model of craft production into a vibrant and integrated entrepreneurial venture by linking the crafts sector more closely with Grenada’s diversified tourism product, which includes nature, heritage, culture, marine and community tourism niches • Provide opportunities for craft producers to diversify their products to meet the demands of the different tourism segments

Characteristics • Market-oriented model will be self sustaining and able to service local market demand as well as participating in export markets

Step 1: Social Profile • Who are the producers? their products? what are their needs? • Predominantly women living in rural areas, working part-time weaving spice baskets • Create rural employment and improve the livelihood of families marginalized by the downturn in the agricultural sector

Social Profile (con’t) • Area of concern: shrinking pool of producers, not attractive to the youth • Solution: make crafts an attractive venture with real economic benefits, more producers and the youth will be attracted • Develop an “artisan model” for crafts that features a key artisan, with a recognized reputation, who then fosters a group of apprentices

Step 2: Market supply & demand • Craft sector follows trends in the tourism industry – production expands when demand is high and contracts during periods of decline • Areas of concern: fragmentation in the supply and demand structures • Little attempt to align product specialization with market segmentation

Market supply • Producers don’t tend to produce ranges of products for specific market segments (cruise, marine, eco-tourists, stay-over visitors, returning residents, etc.) • Produce simple items at low cost, little investment, that sell quickly and cheaply

Market demand • Retail outlets and vendors forced to import crafts • There is a demand for genuine, locally produced crafts, for each segment: • Retail: Stay-over visitors (58%), local sales (30%), cruise passengers (12%) • Cruise tourists: important for rural communities, take tours, purchase on-site, authentic items made by local producers from indigenous materials

Step 3: Sites and Attractions • Grenada has an excellent tourism product (tours and attractions) • One in three visitors take a tour to visit sites and attractions • Need to improve the management of these sites to maximize the benefits from the different tourism segments

Sites and Attractions (con’t) • Potential for the crafts sector: develop sales and marketing facilities on location at sites and attractions • Potential for strengthening the attractions to enhance the natural, heritage, cultural and community tourism

Step 4: Government Strategy • Government has targeted tourism in its economic strategy, encouraging growth in the sector: • New cruise ship terminal, increased hotel rooms, assisting small hotel sector; privatizing sites and attractions • Expand the benefits into rural areas by developing villages and towns into cottage industries or craft centres

Step 5: Best Practices • Successful arts and crafts initiatives in the Caribbean: Barbados, Jamaica, St. Lucia, Dominica • Asia: collaboration among local producers, NGOs, “fair trade” organizations, between local and foreign firms • Innovative arrangements between artisans and buyers establishing distribution channels, providing training, using the Internet, etc.

Step 6: Craft Development Strategy • Formulated from: (a) employment and income needs in rural areas • (b) a healthy market demand supplied by touring visitors • (c) outstanding sites and attractions, and • (d) the Government’s desire to diversify the tourism product

A. Arts and crafts initiative • Suited to Grenada’s unique brand of tourism: natural, historical, and cultural features, small hotels and guest houses • Main elements: a business orientation; marketing and promotion strategies; and an effective institutional structure • Market-oriented model: self sustaining, able to service local market as well as export markets

B. Sites and attractions strategy • Promotion of sites and attractions strategy along with an arts and craftsis a new approach to crafts development • Enhance the unique offerings of Grenada’s tourism: natural ecology, historical sites, cultural heritage, and marine and community tourism • Strengthen management and promotion of the attractions sector

C. Community tourism strategy • The linkages between sitesand attractions and crafts will be integrated into a community tourism strategy • Strengthen management of both the crafts and sites initiatives, rural areas will gain significant benefits from the tourism sector (income and employment)

Step 7: Select Craft/Tourism Sites • Dougaldston Spice Factory • Grand Etang • River Antoine Rum Distillery  Belmont  La Sagesse  Annadale Falls

Other possible sites Production Sites: • Marquis/Soubise • Vendome Possibile Sites: • Bathway/Levera • Hillsborough

Part 2 - Community Assessment Defining the capacity requirements needed to support the project

Craft Initiative (committee) Craft marketing strategy Sites and Attractions (committee) Sites and promotion strategy Local committees for each site:

Proposed project structure

Craft Marketing Strategy

Operational Structure

Community Craft Centres – Grenada