Making the Most of Opportunities

Collaborate: “Ultimately, we wanted to build bridges of trust and friendship to connect the rural communities of Western North Carolina. We wanted to design a system that encouraged the region’s smallest towns to work together in preparing their communities for new tourism products and enhanced visitor experiences,” explains Anderson. It was the craftspeople and artisans themselves who willingly and eagerly forged partnerships for mutual benefit. Their enthusiasm for working together to better each individual spilled over to the formerly competitive lodging establishments in the region, who now use collaborative marketing to attract heritage tourists.

Find the Fit Between the Community and Tourism: Making the tourist attraction work within the community’s framework is a basic building block of this successful program. “First and foremost, we talked to the people,” says Anderson. “They were asked to guide us in identifying the places they were comfortable sharing with visitors. Alternately, we asked them to think about the places that they wanted to hold sacred and not open up to visitors. This program has been built from the people up.” Because many of the artisans and farmers featured live solitary lives, it is important to have them design the concept for their site, making them more receptive to visitors.

Make Sites and Programs Come Alive: Near Little Switzerland at The Loom Room, Murtis Carver spins mohair, camel hair, and wool and offers classes in her craft. Near Brevard, Chaffe McIlhenny blows and sculpts sparkling glass goblets and vases. All along the routes, explorers will discover studios where artisans work and demonstrate their creativity and skill, and happily share the histories of their crafts.

Focus on Quality and Authenticity: In its printed criteria for selecting sites to be included in the Craft Heritage Trails, HandMade states firmly as its first priority “The focus must be on authenticity and quality. No businesses promoting or selling overseas imports. We want sites that reflect positively upon our heritage.”

Preserve and Protect Resources: The southern Appalachian Mountains are the birthplace of traditional and contemporary crafts and the center of education about crafts in this country. HandMade’s Craft Heritage Trails provide visitors with insight and understanding of this vital part of American history, keeping alive traditions that reach back for centuries.

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