Local crafts enter digitised marketing

DEAR EDITOR, the proposed Craft Centre for Honiara is a good idea and has my support although dependent on donor funding to the tune of an expected outlay of $US1.2 million dollars.

The Craft Centre, if eventually created, will give local artists the opportunity of displaying their wide variety of hand crafted products in a central location. Purchases, however, will be wholly dependent on visitors to the Craft Centre and largely, I suspect, to be those visiting Honiara on holiday, including those arriving on ships.

What I personally believe is needed and at much less cost than a Craft Centre as an immediate interim measure is a well-designed, illustrated portal for local products and independent local tourist operators, in the form of a website to market the high quality wares of the talented artists across the whole of the Solomon Islands and to promote the services of those independent tourist operators that fall outside the marketing services provided by the SIVB and its marketing arms.

A portal of the kind I have in mind would feature a Tour Travel Directory of the Solomon Islands specific to the services of the independent group of local tourism operators and display the products made in the Solomon Islands by all craftsmen and women, the length and breadth of the country,

A major feature of such a portal would contain display pages so that interested buyers when searching the website would have contact information by way of a website link

All locally registered independent tourist operators and individual craftsmen and women could be provided with a log in dashboard to update their information, change prices and check their respective enquiries made on line.

My own website – www.solomonislandsinfocus.com – provides a valuable service in support of the SIVB through the link they provided and allows for me to post regular updates on current news and events in the Solomon Islands.

I emphasise that the key to marketing either the services of the local independent tourism operators and the many products made in the Solomon Islands lies in digital internet services to reach not only regional but international interests in travel and product purchases.

A portal of the nature and scope I envisage would be needed would cost in the region of US$10,000 and an annual outlay of US$4,000 to US$5,000 to maintain the domain site.

I would strongly suggest that consideration be given by the DCCG to aiding those that currently fall outside the umbrella provided by the excellent work of the SIVB with a website and for all crafts to be displayed and marketed to the outside world.

If such advice is followed and markets are secured it might be advisable for the cost of locally crafted products to be a little lower since we know from the latest Visitors Tourism Survey local products are said to be rather too expensive according to the reactions of visitors.

Yours sincerely

FRANK SHORT