Almost 70 percent buy gifts for future events and for mementos. Tourists want crafts to use and display in their homes. They enjoy seasonal items. Their favorite craft medium is wood, followed by items made from other natural materials and fabric. They appreciate appealing colors, design, high quality workmanship, a fair price, and innovation.
Tourists appreciate neatly arranged displays that show how to use the crafts.
They appreciate written information on care, safety, and materials used. The tourists surveyed indicated there were not enough crafts made from leather and glass, hand-crafted toys, jewelry, and clothing. They value sales personnel who are pleasant and knowledgeable, but will let them browse. The most successful craft producers promoted themselves and their products by providing business cards and hang tags, signing their work, using logos, and providing written data. They worked an average of 55 hours a week, concentrated on one particular medium, had few items in a product line, identified themselves as artist or designer rather than artisan, craftsman, folk artist, or hand crafter.