Premier Wayne Panton’s announcement that Cayman’s borders will reopen on 20 Nov. was cautiously welcomed on Friday by tourism and business industry leaders, as well as members of the public and tourists hoping to visit the Islands.
Marc Langevin, president of the Cayman Islands Tourism Association, told the Compass the announcement had been “long awaited” by CITA members.
“A firm reopening date provides hope that our tourism community can begin to recover. The fact that the plan is supported by a strong readiness and response plan makes this date more credible,” Langevin said in his emailed response.
Earlier this month, Langevin had noted on the Compass’ weekly talk show ‘The Resh Hour’ that the decision to halt government’s previously-announced reopening plan had undermined travellers’ confidence in the jurisdiction. With a “credible” date in place, the tourism association president said, he understood that there remains work to be done.
“[We] are encouraged that the CIG has already engaged us in establishing working groups. We are ready to cooperate to develop the protocols and processes guided by the CIG’s policies,” Langevin said.
This sentiment was shared by Chamber of Commerce president Mike Gibbs, who acknowledged that the reopening will bring with it similar challenges to those experienced by other countries, but stated the Chamber, too, stood ready to “work with government to identify and address any issues that may arise”.
He added that the Chamber, in partnership with the Health Services Authority, will organise a series of free webinars so that “our members and their employees take the necessary precautions for a safe reopening”.
The Chamber, Gibbs said, welcomed the premier’s announcement, particularly on behalf of “micro and small businesses in the hospitality and support service sectors”.
“[They] have expressed their support for the reopening in recent surveys and are eager to welcome visitors and investors to our shores once again,” Gibbs told the Compass via email.
A statement from Reopen Cayman – a group of 16 private-sector professionals, backed by close to 2,000 employees and businesses, under the #Ready2Reopen campaign – said it also supported the “collaborative efforts in recent weeks by the government, the civil service departments and the private sector in developing a plan that allows us to reopen our borders safely”.
Randy Merren, of Hurley’s, said in the statement, “This presents Cayman with our best opportunity to get many businesses up and running again and start down the road of recovery for our communities and our economy. As we move forward to the next phase, we need to ensure we keep safe, social practices top of mind as we share responsibility for each other’s well-being.”
Paul Pearson of Davenport Development added they were grateful for the “enormous efforts” that have led to this point, saying in the statement, “we also know there is more to do in the coming weeks to help many in the community prepare”.
He said, “As a group, we along with many others, are ready to reopen on 20 November but we fully recognise that being “ready” to reopen will look and feel different to everyone.”
Restrictions for families
Acknowledging concern from some sections of the community that the government’s proposed plan would still restrict families travelling with children too young to be vaccinated, Langevin predicted this would “limit the near-term recovery of tourism”.
Panton had stated earlier in the day that this aspect of the phased reopening would be kept under consideration.
“We are confident that the CIG understands the importance of visiting families to our Islands and will find a workable solution in a timely matter,” Langevin wrote in his statement.
Compass readers also received news of the border-reopening date positively.
Posting on the Compass’ press conference livestream, some responded with emojis, while others wrote “Woooo hoooo”, “Yay”, “IT’S ABOUT TIME” and “Hallelujah”.
Angela Killeen Hilldrup wrote, “I am soooo emotional. I’m crying here knowing I get to see my daughter in cayman once again. Thank you so much for giving me this amazing news.”
Meanwhile, Kevin Darnell stated, “YES. See Ya Jan. 1”, and Patrizia Amante noted, “Thank God hope all will take care of themselves and the people around them.”
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As an owner of a condo on Seven Mile Beach for nearly 30 years I am thrilled to know an exact date of border reopening. However, it must be clarified about the proof of vaccine requirement. In earlier Compass news articles it was stated CIG would not accept American CDC cards as proof because of ‘ease of forgery.’ We, nor our many renters, are skeptical of arriving in Cayman and having our proof challenged and committed to quarantine. CIG must be forthcoming about the major document held by Americans proving vaccination, otherwise this border announcement remains uncertain.
From listening to announcement it seems like the cdc card will be accepted. To travel u have to load your card or documents onto travel cayman and they will let you know and have a negative PCR test before you leave. The country you are coming from has to have over 60% of population with one vaccine.
Like you we need to see all this in writing.
We own a condo and a business and have not been able to go there to check on our investments for 2 years. Without a clear policy on if US vaccinations will be accepted, the opening date has little meaning to us. I have offered to have my physician write a letter acknowledging that I have had both vaccinations, and am now getting ready to get a booster (I am 73 years old). I’m wondering if there is anywhere I can go for the booster that will make the Cayman government comfortable that I truly have been vaccinated 3 times! I keep searching for data on this and come up with nothing.
There are many unknowns in this plan. It seems the details should have been ironed out and shared at the time of the announcement.
Although I am pleased there is a date set I am concerned about how the reopening will play out when I read about businesses such as the Cayman Airways ticket office being closed for deep cleaning due to a positive covid case. We know covid is an airborne virus and it is not as easily spread via surface contamination. The same approach was taken with the West Bay Post Office. You can’t continue to close every business for a few days for a deep cleaning when an employee tests Covid positive. When visitors return will they find restaurants, grocery stores, and other shops closed every few days for deep cleaning as employees and/or guests test positive? If a visitor arrives and is scheduled to check-in at the Kimpton but the front desk person tested positive the day before will the entire front desk area be closed for a deep cleaning? What if a person at the rental car agency tests positive and the visitor arrives only to find the rental car agency closed for a deep cleaning? This issue alone is enough to deter people from returning. How do we guarantee people will be able to get their rental car, pick up groceries, check into their hotel/vacation rental, or go out to dinner if businesses are closed every time someone working at the business tests positive. What if a CBC agent test positive and they were working at immigration; will the entire immigration area be closed for cleaning? If so how do you process all the arrivals while the immigration area is closed? Does CIG have a plan for how to deal with this?
More Questions:
1) How will departure covid testing be handled for those returning from vacation in Cayman and requiring a negative covid test before boarding their flight to their home country? Is CIG prepared to offer rapid testing to US citizens? Have they considered how to make testing easy, convenient, and not extremely costly? A hint they should talk to the Cabo San Lucas officials, they have it figured out.
2) Exactly what forms of vaccine proof will be accepted? CDC card only? CDC card with doctor’s note?
3) When will CIG allow families to arrive without quarantine when traveling with unvaccinated children?
4) If a vaccinated visitor tests positive for covid test before heading home how long will CIG require that person to quarantine? Will the entire family be required to quarantine?
I am sure there are plenty more unanswered questions. What have I missed? Should we send our questions directly to CIG? Would they read them? Would they care?
Beth – you should just wait. We saw how convoluted the last “plan” was. There are plenty of other places more than willing to take your leisure dollars and they have warm weather and nice beaches too and very little hassle. For whatever reason the CIG just can’t seem to be able to move on with life like most other places on the planet. We are coming back to Cayman someday, but not for a while.
Will the U.S. even qualify? Per today’s data, the vaccination rate in the U.S. is 57.4%
Ok, that 60% benchmark for first doses, so the U.S. is at 66.4%
The question people here are asking, is when the U.S. opens vaccinations to the 5-11 year old population within the next few weeks, that first dose percentage will go way below 60%.