Better management of cruise tourism and attracting more Caymanians into the tourism industry were amongst topics discussed at Bodden Town district’s meeting about the National Tourism Management Policy.
A small number of people from the community turned out to air their views Saturday morning at Pedro St. James.
Bodden Town MLA Osbourne Bodden apologised on behalf of Minister for Tourism Charles Clifford who was ill with flu and unable to attend. Cabinet Minister Arden McLean was also unable to attend.
Director of Tourism Pilar Bush explained that the intent of the National Tourism Management Policy is to give the country a framework to manage tourism.
The main comments from the floor included the importance of the first policy objective involving upgrading product for visitors.
The importance of being environmentally friendly in upgrading the tourism product was also voiced.
The opinion that there is a need to concentrate on the quality of product rather than quantity was also aired.
Visiting tourists make comments such as ‘George Town is like a zoo,’ so not only does it need to be managed better, but congestion needs to be controlled better, was another piece of feedback.
Chris Evans of The Tourism Company said that four years ago it was noted that cruise passengers have a negative impact on stay-over visitors, but now cruise passengers are impacting the quality of other cruise passenger’s visit, which means a point has been crossed.
Also, word of mouth on cruise ships spreads quickly, so a visitor’s bad experience can turn off a lot of visitors from coming here, was another comment.
Cruise berthing could even further add to congestion, was another opinion.
But the public was mainly in agreement that to turn away ships is not the answer, as once gone, they would not come back.
Rather, spreading around the impact of cruise visitors must be practised.
Once proper management of cruise passengers is gained, the product will speak for itself and the visitors should not seek to look elsewhere, was another opinion.
Getting people to invest in Caymanians for the tourism industry was another point aired, along with the suggestion to involve youth groups in feedback on the policy document.
The Tourism Company was hired as consultant for the first NTMP, and again for its update because of its experience in doing similar policy framework documents for other small island states, such as Jersey.
Ms Bush pointed out that as the policy was a five-year plan (2002-2007) there is a need to have the updated framework developed before this year ends.
The main policy objectives outlined in the current NTMP are:
• To provide a high quality product for the visitor;
• To present a distinctive Caymanian experience;
• To adopt a sustainable approach to tourism development;
• To protect and enhance marine resources;
• To attract a more discerning higher spending visitor;
• To develop a highly skilled Caymanian workforce;
• To develop nature or soft adventure tourism on the Sister Islands;
• To organise tourism in the Cayman Islands more effectively;
• To research and monitor tourism more effectively.
Mr. Evans that when he was back last month to spend 10 days here getting feedback on the NTMP, the overwhelming feeling he got was that existing strategies still appear to be very relevant.
However, there is one overarching change, which is the new emphasis on sustainable development to meet global and local commitments.
There have been some challenging issues that have been slow to resolve, he said.
The need for a development plan to address inappropriate and poor quality development is one of these, but it is of critical importance, he said.
The second is the need for environmental protection on land and sea to enhance the quality of product.
The third is the growth of the cruise sector, in which a daily cap was suggested in the current NTMP. However, cruise ship numbers have gone up considerably since then and the new cruise terminal has come on line, but there still needs to be better management of visitors.
The whole question of human resources and the proportion of Caymanians in the tourism labour force is another burning issue, although significant progress has been made with it recently, he said.
By the annual tourism conference (13 and 14 September), the 2007 to 2012 NTMP plan should be presented, Ms Bush said.
When to go
East End – 7-9 tonight, East End Civic Centre
George Town 7-9pm Wednesday, Mary Miller Hall
West Bay – 7-9pm Thursday, John A. Cumber Primary School
Cayman Brac – 10am-1pm Saturday, Seamen/Veterans Hall
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