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Enhance Artisans/Crafts Makers’ Business Skills in Akhmeta Municipality and Samtskhe-Javakheti Region

The project aims to enhance crafts makers’ business skills in Akhmeta Municipality/Tusheti and Samtskhe-Javakheti region. The project includes the preliminary survey of the existing recourses, the selection of potential beneficiaries, and the provision of product development trainings, workshops and individual consultations to develop new lines of market-oriented crafts products. Based on the preliminary studies in Akhmeta Municipality/Tusheti and Samtskhe-Javakheti region the beneficiaries were selected for the capacity building activities. The first part of the activities included general trainings in business skills (financial issues) and crafts product development.

  • TRAININGS

Two trainings in crafts product development and business skills were held in Akhmeta Municiplaity  and Samktskhe Javakheti region

Description of the trainings:

Training Title: Crafts Product Development and Marketing

Trainings covered the following issues:

  • International and Local Craft Market Demands (Introducing international accepted standards in handmade products);
  • Craft market trends worldwide
  • Production diversification: new functional groups, innovative designs, Collections (local traditions, museum objects and techniques as a source for inspiration)
  • Creating a successful display- Production Branding and presentation: Logos, Packaging Informational tags and their importance
  • Quality and standards - international size, color, material standards
  • Crafts Display making contemporary exhibiting methods. Sharing successful international and local cases of craft display

Training Title:  Business Skills Development Training 

Trainings covered the following issues:

  • The legal status of Craft business (pros and cons)
  • Fundraising possibilities for startups
  • Marketing channels and communication with clients
  • Product Pricing;
  • Sociel Media Management
  • Crafts products and Intellectual Property Right

 

  • The Akhaltsikhe International Festival of Crafts Workshops, held in Rabati Castle on 14-16 September was a wide scope event organized by Georgian Heritage Crafts Association in collaboration with Georgian State Museum of Folk and Applied Arts. The Festival brought together 100 craft makers from Georgia and abroad to show the diversity of crafts fields and enhance the integration of artisan workshops in tourist routes. Project beneficiaries from Akhmeta Municipality and Samtskhe Javakheti region (30 participants) had the possibility to present and sell their works to the wider public and at the same time get acquainted with the works of other crafts makers, which in turn will help them to analyses the competition on the crafts market, both locally and internationally.
  • 2 Info Tour for Tourist Agencies

The First Info tour, has been implemented in the framework of Akhatsikhe Festival. The 2nd has been held in the framework of the Telavi festival Nobember 7, 2018. The representatives of tourist agencies have been brought for the info tour in three different workshops in Akhmeta Municipality (Laliskuri, Kvemo Alvani and Zemo Alvani). It ended up in Telavi Museum, where the representatives of tourism agencies had the chance to exchange with the contact information with all other artisans presented there. (7 Participants)

 

  • 2 Trainings in tourist service development; 

The First training, has been implemented in the framework of Akhatsikhe Festival. The 2dn training in tourism services for crafts workshops has been held on November 10, 2018.  It has been attended by the craft makers from Akhmeta Municipality, it covered the major principles of the sustainable tourism development and the role of crafts in the concept of ecotourism.  (7 Participants)

 

  • Design and Publishing of Guidebooks of Crafts Workshops for both regions

Two separate volumes of Crafts Workshop Guidebooks for both regions have been designed to promote artisanal workshops as tourist destinations. The bilingual guidebooks provide the reader with the information on the services each workshop can offer the visitor and other useful information like the visiting hours, GPS coordinates etc. The particular guidebooks was distributed among the tourism information centers, especially in the target regions. 

  • Exhibition of Local Crafts Products, Demonstration Activities, Telavi Historical Museum, November 7, 2018

Special exhibition of Akhmeta Municipality artisans has been held at Telavi Historical Museum on November 7, on the Festival dedicated to the King Erekle II. The event showed the works of the Akhmeta Municipality beneficiaries to the wider public and was supposed to help them with marketing and further networking with the Museum. Up to 20 project beneficiaries had the opportunity to show their products at the fair.

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