History and Culture Meet Technology at Falmouth Artisan Village

Jamaica’s tourism product took a major step into the future with the recent opening of the island’s first state-of-the-art artisan village in the Georgian town of Falmouth.

The historic Hampden Wharf – a relic of the country’s sugar plantation era – has been transformed into a modern facility where visitors can shop for unique, locally made craft while enjoying the country’s vibrant culture and heritage.

A unique feature of the village is a clever interfacing of local history with technology, enabling visitors to explore 19th Century Falmouth using 21st Century technology.

Using Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality (AR/VR), persons will be able to digitally interact with characters of the past, providing an educational and entertaining experience.

Children will be able to use the technology to do scavenger hunts using QR codes to locate nuggets around the village, while teens and young adults will find the VR technology entertaining, as they use simulators to drive fast cars or fly planes, and headsets to explore the underwater world.

In the public spaces around the village, visitors will also be able to create interactive experiences with characters from 19th century Falmouth, using QR codes.

The technology will also support the shops, as each facility will have its own QR code to tell its story and provide price lists or menus.

An important part of this AR/VR technology is the microsite, which is critical to the marketing of the artisan village.

The plan is to provide a layout of the site indicating the location of each shop.

Each shopkeeper will be able to upload information about themselves, as well as pictures of the products available, menus, and contact information.

The microsite is interactive and so visitors can walk up to the equipment and find interesting facts about the site and what is available.

Using the specific hashtags for the village, visitors can upload images of what they are doing at Falmouth in real time.

The establishment of the Artisan Village at Falmouth is an important component of the Blue Ocean Strategy of the Ministry of Tourism.

The facility will provide small and micro entrepreneurs who have creative skills, with the opportunity to join the tourism value chain.

Visitors to the village will have the pleasure of watching the skilled craftsmen at work as they create that piece of Jamaican art that they will take back home to remind them of a great vacation.

The Artisan Village at Falmouth is the first of five such villages that will be brought on stream across the island.

It is anticipated that the concept will be built out in Ocho Rios, Montego Bay, Port Antonio and Negril in the near future.

Strategically located at Gate 5 along the corridor leading to the Falmouth cruise ship pier, the over $700 million facility is co-sponsored by the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF) and the Port Authority of Jamaica (PAJ).

It was officially opened by Prime Minister, the Most Hon Andrew Holness on Friday, April 19.