South Coast Jamaica

USAID – The Nature Conservancy

Craft and Business Specialist

Local market development through business training and product design & development.

Small Planet Consulting has been engaged by The Nature Conservancy to implement a Community Tourism project in Jamaica which focused on tourism and craft development in the communities of Bluefields and Treasure Beach.

Both communities have been selected to receive assistance to pursue strategic partnerships with players in the tourism industry and assistance from a member of the team and international craft specialist Daniela Viscarra.

Business, product development, marketing training and coaching for twenty skilled artisans with the aim of enhancing and developing their craft product lines for visitor markets in design, style, color and skills. All presented in a catalogue developed by the consultant.

The structural framework for the program was to deliver a concentrated and comprehensive training package that would positively influence the production and delivery of high quality craft items in the communities of Bluefields and Treasure Beach.

Each artisan received at least two hours of one-on-one design and product development support with focus on their existing design and on new designs based on their technical abilities and market trends.

Training contents were designed for the specific needs of each group and individual artisan which included the challenges that artisans face to reach the tourist market and actually make sales in fair prices, the challenges with raw material and components provision and the importance of planning and goal setting for the small business.

After the field work, the consultant attended the participants through online sessions that allowed them to present the progress of their production of new lines as well as learning more about other technical aspects. Daniela also provided graphic design to improve their brand.