Crime is affecting Cayman’s tourism.
That’s the message from some of our visitors.
One of the things many visitors like best about the Cayman Islands is that they feel safe here, something that is not true about many other Caribbean islands.
The safety factor of vacationing in the Cayman Islands is one reason visitors are willing to pay more for a holiday here than they would elsewhere.
Take away the safety factor, and our visitors will either stay away in fear, or resent what they pay for their vacations here.
With post-Ivan tourism still reeling, the Cayman Islands simply can’t afford to lose its annually returning tourists because of the perceptions of high crime here.
What is unfortunate is that, relatively speaking statistically, Grand Cayman is still a safe place to live and visit.
But for tourists following local news through Cayman’s on-line media outlets, the attention crime is getting must make it seem like the situation is out of control.
Sure, there has been a disturbing increase in crime here, something no one is happy about. The Government has promised significant funds to bolster crime fighting, which, along with other police initiatives, should help turn the tide of crime in Cayman.
It is perhaps for the very reason of the newness of crime here that it so often ends up in the forefront of Cayman’s media attention instead of being relegated to small items in back pages, as it is in newspapers all over the world where crime has become a prevalent and accepted aspect of life.
While the Caymanian Compass would never suggest that any events that actually occur should be suppressed from print, we realise the great responsibility of making sure crime reports are given appropriate prominence in the newspaper, and most importantly, that they are based on fact and not speculation.
Displaying a front page crime headline in bold, 90-point font just because it’s a slow news day only hurts the country. Printing hearsay statements from anonymous sources of dubious credibility that allege something like official police corruption damages Cayman’s reputation overseas. If it is true, that’s one thing; but what if it’s not?
In their zeal to break an attention-grabbing story, any responsible media outlet still has a professional duty to make sure it is printing the truth, especially if getting it wrong can cause such damage to the country.
The Internet has helped bring Cayman to the world. It would be a shame if it were bringing only bad news, and even a bigger shame if that bad news weren’t even true.
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