social-economic impact caribbean gift and craft show 2007

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Evaluation ReportOrganizing Committee Curaao

2007


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Social-economic ImpactCaribbean Gift andCraft Show 2007CriteriaThe qualitative and quantitative criteria that havebeen fixed to test the social economic impact ofthe Caribbean Gift and Craft Show are:

1. Participation2. Sales & Employment3. Social contribution

Point of departure analysisThe analysis is based on data information fromthe statistics of Curaao Tourist Board, CuraaoHospitality and Tourism Association and CuraaoAirport Partners and some records from the showkept by the Curaao Organization Committee andCaribbean Export Development Agency.It should be noted that no directed data-information has been gathered for this event.

Other than recordings on the actual show,capacity development and economic developmentindicators over the whole month of Septemberwere used as starting point for the analysis. Inother words, some other factors outside the scopeof this analysis can influence the statisticalindicators over the month of September 2006 and2007 in this analysis.Because of this, only a limited indication can beprovided of the impact the Caribbean Gift andCraft Show 2007.

Capacity development indicatorsThe following sub indicators can be distinguishedas capacity development indicators:

number of exhibitors

number of buyers

number of visitors to the show

stay over visitor arrivals and the country oforigin

total nights by country of origin

hotel occupancy

Economic development indicatorsThe following sub indicators can be distinguished aseconomic development indicators:

generated turnover from consumer expenses

employment

1. ParticipationExhibitorsThe Caribbean Gift and Craft Show was a big success,it attracted 215 companies or organizations in gift andcraft from 20 Caribbean countries. Usually around 200exhibitors from 20 countries in Caribbean are attractedto the show. Off course the different companies camewith their share of exhibitors or representatives. Thusthe exhibitors at the show met or even surpassed theexpectations.

Barbados, Curacao, Jamaica were very wellrepresented with 37 companies Jamaica with 26companies and Haiti with 19 organizations. In thefollowing table you can see the number of companiesper country that attended the show in 2007.

Table 1. Exhibiting companies per country.

No: ofcountries

Country No: ofcompanies

1 Antigua & Barbuda 3

2 Bahamas 1

3 Barbados 37

4 British Virgin Islands 4

5 Cuba 1

6 Curacao 37

7 Dominica 7

8 Dominican Republic 6

9 Grenada 5

10 Guadeloupe 3

11 Guyana 8

12 Haiti 1913 Jamaica 37

14 Martinique 1

15 Saint Lucia 8

16 St. Kitts and Nevis 3

17 St. Maarten 2

18 St. Vincent & The Grenadines 1

19 Suriname 6


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20 Trinidad & Tobago 26

Total 215

BuyersUsually the show attracts approximately 300 tradebuyers from regional and extra-regional countries.

There were a total of 245 buyers present at thefour days long show. The number of buyerspresent at show did not entirely meet theexpectations. Only 90 of these buyers registeredbefore the show and 155 did at the show. Themajority came from Curacao, a total of 127 buyers.International buyers came from the Netherlands(7) and the United States (14). There were nobuyers from the United Kingdom. The tableunderneath gives a clear report of this.

VisitorsThe show attracted 5.283 visitors. This number isbased on the number of tickets sold; it encompasses abroad group, from locals, visitors from overseas thatcame especially for the show and tourists that just sohappen to be on the island during the show. There isno more information on the distribution of this group,given that prior arrangements werent made to analyzethis particular group. The number of visitors theOrganizing Committee was aiming at target number ofvisitors of 6.000. Although this exact target wasnt met,it can be argued that public attendance at the showwas relatively high compared to the show in the priordestination.

Table 2. No of buyers by countryNo: of countries Buyer Country Pre-registered Registered at Show Total

1 Anguilla 1 1

2 Antigua and Barbuda 9 6 15

3 Aruba 1 4 5

4 Bahamas 1 7 8

5 Barbados 6 6

6 Belize 1 1

7 Bermuda 1 2 3

8 British Virgin Islands 1 3 4

9 Canada 2 2

10 Curacao 34 93 127

11 Grenada 3 1 4

12 Guadeloupe 2 2

13 Guyana 1 1

14 Jamaica 3 3

15 Netherlands Antilles (Bonaire) 2 8 10

16 Netherlands 7 7

17 Nigeria 0

18 Panama 1 1

19 Saint Lucia 020 St. Kitts & Nevis 3 3

21 St. Maarten 9 1 10

22 St. Vincent & the Grenadines 8 1 9

23 Suriname 0

24 Trinidad and Tobago 4 3 7

25 UK 0


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26 U.S. Virgin Islands 1 1

27 USA 5 9 14

28 Venezuela 1 1

90 155 245

ArrivalsAccording to the bid specifications, the benefits to be derived from hosting the CGCS in either2006 or 2007 would be significant, as it is anticipated that approximately 500-600 visitors fromoverseas will be visiting the country for the event, including exhibitors from some 30 countries inthe wider Caribbean.Traditionally the month of September belongs to the low season, in 2007 during the month ofSeptember 2007 though, there was a noticeable growth in arrivals from theCaribbean to Curaao compared to the same month in the year before.Arrivals from St. Vincent grew by 800% and arrivals from the British Virgin Islands and theBahamas grew substantially.

The graphs visualize this development. Altogether, the arrivals from the Caribbean1grew by 38%.

Graph 1. Arrivals from the Caribbean in September 2006 and 2007

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Bahamas

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rench

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No:ofarrivals

Graph 2. Percentage growth in arrivals from the Caribbean in September 2007 compared to2006

1 Antigua, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, British Virgin Island, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic

French Guyana, Granada, Guadeloupe, Guyana, French St. Martin, Haiti, Jamaica, Martinique, Other Caribbean,

Puerto Rico, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia,St. Vincent, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago


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-100%

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There was also growth in the arrivals from North America2

(4,9%) and Europe (20,1%) in themonth of September 2007 as opposed to 2006, according to the Navigation system of CTB.

The total number of nights stayed by our Caribbean visitors also experienced an increase. Thegrowth in the total nights stayed was 32% in September 2007 compared to 2006. The countries ofwhich the growth in nights stayed was most remarkable are in the sequence of most important toleast important, St. Vincent (1600%), Dominica (794%), Barbados (445%), Antigua (435%) andBahamas (336%). These countries however, are not the mayor stayers as opposed to Suriname,Aruba, Dominican Republic and Jamaica. Of the mayor stayer group only Aruba had a negativegrowth indicator.

Graph 3. No: of nights stayed in September 2006 and 2007

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Antigua

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amas

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Totalnights

The total number of nights stayed by visitors from North America and Europe also increased inSeptember 2007 compared to 2006. The growth of total nights stayed by North American visitors(8,025%) is predominantly thanks to the increase of nights stayed by our U.S. visitors (12,05%).Visitors from Canada stayed less nights in September 2007 than in 2006. This corresponds to theparticipation of 14 buyers fron the U.S. and the absence of buyers from Canada to the show. In

2U.S.A. and Canada


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general one can ascribe the growth in arrivals during this regularly low season in September 2007to the hosting of the show in Curaao.

Hotel Occupancy

A number of inns were provided to the visitors (exhibitors and buyers from the Caribbean andabroad to this show), most of them in the direct vicinity of the venue (WTC). We do not have anexact count of the number of rooms booked by the Caribbean Gift & Craft show visitors at all therecommended hotels, but we do have an overview of the development of hotel occupancy from2002 till 2007 per month. The overview also includes two hotels that werent suggested by theCuraao Organizing Committee, namely Avila and Lions, but the overall picture gives a fair imageof hotel occupancy that can serve as an indicator of possible growth in hotel bookings as a resultof hosting the show on the Island. In de image underneath a positive development can bedetected throughout 2002 up to 2007, as the average occupancy increases. The month ofSeptember also shows continuous increases.


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2. Sales & Employment

Sales

We do not have the exact numbers of the

sales the exhibitors made during the show,although records were kept of the Caribbeancompanies due to custom policy, exceptfrom Curaao. What can be derived fromthese records is that not all the exhibitorsmanaged to sell the products they broughtwith them at the show. Some did well andothers did not. It would have been great tohave an idea of how well our local craftersdid at the show.Other than sales the exhibitors made atshow, are the sales the Trader made (

ANG 55.000,-) and turnover of the sales of

soup. On the soup day, the soupcommission managed to sell 497 soupbowls which amounted to ANG 2.485,- insales. Brokers also charged for theirservices. Swissport handled most of thecargo. We do not posses information ontheir income from the show.

Employment

The show attributed to employment ofseveral groupings ranging from taxi andbus/shuttle drivers, Destination Curaao(responsible for logistics at WTC), A-Zmodels, the Trader (restaurant), DushiKorsou, Rhyddm (entertainment groups),Massive Production (sound), Editor andLayout designers (newspaper, promotion).These are just a few of the beneficiariesfrom the show.

3. Social Contribution

Not only did the show contribute to the

economy, but it also contributed to the socialdevelopment of our community.Prior to the show in September, someprivate and governmental institutions joinedto prepare a two weeks long training for ourlocal crafters in order to get them ready forthe export market. An instructor from theCape Craft Design Institute, South Africa,was brought to Curaao to teach our crafters

on this subject. What was particularlyinteresting is the fact that many different

organizations contributed free of charge.More over, our youth played an importantrole in the show. Students from differentlevels of education contributed to the show.Students from secondary vocational schoolswere the chefs at the soup day. Others werehosts at the show along with some juniorcollege students in the flexpool, helping ourvisitors feel at home at the Show and ourIsland of course. Students from theUniversity of the Netherlands Antillescreated the daily Expo News whichcompiled information on the prior day in a

reader friendly way to the exhibitors. In theendeavor of involving schools, the CuraaoOrganizing Committee received lots ofcooperation from public private entities aswell.A random interview with 3 local visitors tothe show held by one of the members of thenews crew for Expo News revealed that thepublic is not very much aware of what ourisland can produce in the craft and art fieldand that events like the Caribbean Gift andCraft Show should be held more often to getthem acquainted with our artists in particularand Caribbean art & craft. Moreover most ofthem came for shear curiosity.Finally the interaction with our neighboringcountries is of great importance for furtherdevelopment of our community.

social-economic impact caribbean gift and craft show 2007

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