Foreign-made ‘Jamaican’ souvenirs could be on the way out, as the Tourism Ministry is one step closer to its plan of establishing the island’s first Craft Development Institute (CDI), following the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU), yesterday, to commence a study to assess the profitability of the plan.

The MOU comes some five months after the Tourism Product Development Company (TPDCo) and the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts (EMC) signed an agreement in January to develop the CDI in St Ann.

Speaking at the signing at the Jamaica Tourist Board, Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett said the institute is a part of the ministry’s move to establish five craft centres to improve the country’s tourism product.

“Nowhere is authenticity more important than in the arts and craft sector. The modern tourist does not want assembly-line mass-produced souvenir items made in foreign lands,” said the minister.

The feasibility study, which will be conducted by Zyacom Ltd, will detail the capacity of the EMC, guide the government on the skills training gaps and the financial and organisational requirements necessary to ensure CDI’s sustainability

The study is expected to be conducted over a three-month period, after which the findings will be presented to Minister Bartlett.

The minister said that the tourism industry is losing a “substantial” amount of money because of the lack of a structured and authentic Jamaican craft and artisanship market for stopover and cruise-ship tourists, hastening the need for a CDI.

“The mass importation of cheap ‘Jamaican’ souvenirs has severely impacted and diminished business opportunities for our local crafts people, and is causing a leakage of much-needed foreign exchange,” said Bartlett, noting that the ministry does not currently have any official monetary figures.

The plan is to launch the establishment of a CDI by September 2018. The institute will seek to provide training and certification to current and future craft producers, supporting the development of authentic Jamaican craft and protecting new designs.

EMC will provide technical training and expertise to the institute.