This year’s Cayman-hosted Florida and Caribbean Cruise Association conference and trade show is of real significance to the whole country, not just the tourism industry, officials said Friday.
‘Everyone in the Cayman Islands should look at this as an opportunity,’ FCCA president Michelle Paige told a special luncheon to discuss the conference, which comes here at the end of October.
The cruise ship business not only affects the tourism industry, said Chamber of Commerce CEO Wil Pineau.
‘It impacts all our lives,’ he told the Ritz-Carlton luncheon.
Without cruise ships the Cayman economy would not be where it is today, he said.
There are great opportunities for entrepreneurship in the cruise industry and people need to be innovative in finding ways of keeping the cruise ships here.
Tourism Minister Charles Clifford said that hosting the conference is an enormous honour for the country. The meeting is expected to draw around 1,000 cruise executives and tourism officials from the region as well as other dignitaries including the president of Columbia, he said.
The opening of the Royal Watler cruise terminal in April or May is a significant project and the government is also going ahead in looking at establishing berthing facilities – which would mean passengers would have more time to spend ashore, he said.
‘We are currently working with two entities to determine the best location to establish these facilities and will keep you updated on the progress,’ he told the luncheon.
Director of Tourism Pilar Bush said they wanted delegates to be impressed by how efficient and smart it is to do business in the Cayman Islands.
And they also wanted Cayman to be better off afterwards for having had the conference, she said.
In answer to a question, Mr. Clifford said they had been debating the issue of Pirates Week and were about to make a decision on dates for it.
He said it was unlikely to overlap with the conference, which runs from 31 October to 3 November.
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