artisan village planned for Ocho Rios

[Assasin]

Billion dollar artisan village planned for Ocho Rios

2011-08-28 12:10:40 | (1 Comments)






The tourism ministry has unveiled plans for the construction of a billion dollar artisan village in Ocho Rios, St Ann.

The design for the village was presented to stakeholders late last week during a tour of the resort town by the Minister of Tourism, Edmund Bartlett.

The ministry says the village will be a ‘one stop’ venue for authentic Jamaican food, music, heritage and craft. The Ministry says the craft market concept in Jamaica is inadequate to showcase and sell the Jamaican experience to visitors.

Minister Bartlett says the village will give visitors an opportunity to challenge the creativeness of local artists and also give artists and craftsmen an avenue to expose and express their work, while playing a meaningful role in reducing the volume of imported craft items.

[TDowl]

Will they be moving out from Dunns river? so no one to twang to me there?

Good move, more space to pruse the quality pieces.

[Stonigut]

Lang time me a talk bout dis, not only do we need this we need about six of them across the island, each one having different specialties from ceramic to wood working to trinkets, strawworks etc etc everybody a sell too much of the same thing.

Two years ago i took some pictures of a multi-piece wooden set, that you could take apart and put back today, the kind of thing that US people will buy off the internet for all $40.00 US easy, and took it down to a few craftsman in mandeville, Mobay and Ochi, I gave each a set of pictures they showed each piece of the assembly process, they seemed very interested not sure if it ever bore any fruit, as i have not been back in those areas since 2009.

[TDowl]

They need to do something about their prices, quick sale sail fast....

[Assasin]

very good contribution Tdwol and Stoni. Yes they have to do something about the prices and also the presentation and customer service. I hope they have training for people who are allowed to sell their ware.

We could at least start with 3 and Ochi, Mobay and Falmouth, and build from there.

[Assasin]

TEF primary funding source for first Artisan Village

Published: Wednesday | August 31, 2011 0 Comments








Avia Collinder, Business Writer Jamaica's plan to develop a network of shopping and cultural centres in five [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue !important]resort[/COLOR][/COLOR] towns is expected to cost J$5 billion over five years, backed by the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF).
The first 'Artisan Village' is to be developed in Ocho Rios.
But while the state agency leading the project says the business and financing model is still to be finalised, Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett told Wednesday Business that the Ocho Rios development would be largely state-funded.
"The money will come primarily from the TEF over five years. It's a huge development costing an estimated J$1 billion," Bartlett said on Tuesday.
The TEF, created under the 2004 Tourism Enhancement Act, is the repository for the fees collected from visitors to Jamaica — the current charges are US$10 per incoming [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue !important]airline[/COLOR][/COLOR] passengers and US$2 for [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue !important]cruise[/COLOR][/COLOR] passengers.
The fund currently stands at J$2 billion, Bartlett said.
UDC General Manager Joy Douglas also said Tuesday that while the concept of the Artisan Village as a centre for Jamaican food, music, heritage and craft is being considered for several resort areas, the UDC is currently focused on rolling out the Ocho Rios leg for which, she said, "very preliminary estimates for phase one puts the cost of the development at over J$1 billion".
Investors sought
The other four artisan villages will be developed in Montego Bay, Falmouth, Port Antonio, and Negril.
In its 2011 [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue !important]investment [COLOR=blue !important]portfolio[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] plan outline, the UDC proposed a public-private partnership to design, build and sell or operate the Artisan Village.
Douglas confirmed that the TEF would be tapped for funding, but said the UDC was still in the process of packaging the project for pitching to private investors.
"As indicated previously, we will be going to the market in conjunction with the Ministry of Tourism to present the project to [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue !important]investors[/COLOR][/COLOR]," she said. "The corporation is presently finalising the business and financing model for the project, and will be moving forward with implementation in conjunction with the ministry."
Bartlett said the villages were conceived as a centre for Jamaican artists and craftsmen to showcase their creativity, while positioning artisans to grab market share from importers of craft items.
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