BELIZE - ARTS AND CRAFTS FOR TOURISM UNDEVELOPED IN WESTERN BELIZE DUE TO DIFFICULTIES.

SMALL CRAFT ARTISANS COMPLAIN THEY CANNOT SELL THEIR WARES TO THE OFFSHORE CAYES, OR TOURISM VILLAGE OR ONBOARD CRUISE SHIPS

The way the artisan business is currently working, neither the tourist markets in the offshore cayes, tourism village, or the cruise ships are building the local tourist artifact economy in the Cayo district.

The reasons are varied. Within Belize it is the lack of distributors. In the tourism village, it seems dog eat dog, and nobody is working on it. The Belize Tourism Board has no answers, they are a useless predatory department. The cruise ships are set up in such a way, they protect themselves by issuing subcontractor for profit arrangements. This gives no ability or continuity for local small craft artisans in the Cayo district of Western Belize to grow, improve and expand. We cannot reach the existing markets.
TRANSFORMATIONAL ECONOMICS IS REQUIRED HERE. Can the government bureaucrats deliver solutions? So far the answer is no!

____________________________________________

Ray,

Art Box and Orange in Cayo are two of the biggest craft stores in Belize, and National Handicrafts in Belize City is handy for the cruise ship trade. Most of the tons of gift shops in San Pedro and Caye Caulker carry shelves and shelves of mainland Belize crafts.

Wish there were more quality fabric, pottery, wood and other crafts in Belize, comparable to what's available in Guatemala.

--Lan Sluder


THATS INTERESTING LAN. I HAVE ARTISANS COMING TO MY HOUSE AT THE FRONT DOOR IN HILLVIEW SELLING THEIR STUFF, BOTH GUATEMALA AND BELIZEANS. MAGANA POTTERY IN SUCCOTZ WORKS, CAN PRODUCE SOME EXCELLENT POTTERY AND HAS A KILN. HE LIKES TO WORK ONLY TO ORDER THOUGH. MY WIFE IS PRODUCING WEAVING STUFF ON THE LOOM TRYING TO FIND SOMETHING THAT SELLS. SHE CAN MAKE SHAWLS THAT SELL IN RIO DULCE, GUATEMALA TO TOURISTS, BUT IT IS HARD TO MAKE TO ORDER WITH THOSE PEOPLE AND TOO EXPENSIVE TO TRAVEL. SHE HAS SOLD A FEW THINGS LIKE WOVEN KEY FOBS WITH NAMES ON THEM, OR USING EXOTIC TYPE LABOR INTENSIVE WEAVING STYLES. SHE CANNOT GET WHAT IT COSTS TO MAKE THE STUFF THOUGH. SHE MAKES WONDERFUL BELTS IN INDIAN AND PERSIAN DESIGNS AND GETS A LOT OF REQUESTS LOCALLY, BUT NOBODY WILL PUT MONEY UP FRONT. THE MEXICAN ARTISANS ARE WELL REPRESENTED BY A STALL IN THE MACAL RIVER MARKET ON SATURDAYS. I TRIED TO GET A LOCAL BOY TRAINED IN MAKING WOOD MAYA CIRULAR PLAQUES, BUT WE COULD NOT FIND A DISTRIBUTOR TO HANDLE THEM AND HE GAVE UP. THERE WAS NO WAY TO REACH THE TOURIST VILLAGE ON THE COAST, OR PLACES ON THE CAYES IN A COST EFFECTIVE MANNER. THIS SEEMS TO BE AN ETERNAL PROBLEM, BEEN ONGOING FOR YEARS. THE CHOCOLATE MAKER PEOPLE SEEM TO HAVE THE SAME DISTRIBUTION PROBLEM.