Economist: ‘Cruise profits not worth the cost’

The cost of the cruise industry, both financially and ecologically, likely outweighs the benefits for the Cayman Islands, a leading Caribbean economist has said.

Marla Dukharan believes Cayman’s leaders need to properly examine the negative impacts of tourism as well as the economic upside.

Citing land-use impacts from major hotels and the waste created by mass tourism, she suggested the jurisdiction needed to properly assess its vision for the future.

Speaking to business leaders and politicians at the RF Cayman Economic Outlook conference held last week at the Kimpton Seafire Resort, she said the cruise industry in particular is likely a net drag on the islands’ economy as well as its environment.

Citing survey data that shows cruise passenger spending around at US$50 per head, she questioned whether this even covered the “cost of cleaning up after them”.

Dukharan acknowledged that there was not sophisticated data available to answer this question definitively, suggesting that in itself was part of the problem.

Even without hard numbers, she argued the cruise industry likely does more harm than good in Cayman.

Citing her own experience, stepping over trash as she jogged on Seven Mile Beach, she suggested mass tourism was negatively impacting the environment and the experience of visitors.

She added, “I think from an ecological standpoint the tourism industry is a net cost to the country.”

Asked by Tourism Minister Kenneth Bryan if Cayman was right to emphasise ‘quality over quantity’, she suggested tackling the cruise industry was key to this goal.

“You had so many cruise ships sitting outside at 5 o’clock this morning,” she said.

“You really have to think about the costs versus the benefits. You need data for that but some of it is intuitive.

“If you are seeing levels of waste that aren’t justified by the amount of revenue cruise tourism generates, I don’t know if that makes sense. I don’t know that a country like Cayman needs that.”

In other jurisdictions, such as Jamaica and the Dominican Republic, she said the amount of jobs in the cruise sector dictated that politicians tended to support the industry. But she suggested that was likely not the case in Cayman.

Dukharan argued that the islands need a vision for tourism in general that considers the right size of the product.

“Is the tourism sector as it’s currently configured really worth the waste in the landfill, the waste I see on Seven Mile Beach this morning, the land used for the big hotels, the amount of imported food, energy and labour?

“I’m not saying it isn’t. We just don’t know. We need the data.”

She said Cayman needs a national vision to focus on what matters most.

“The question is what is the right size and right type of tourism for Cayman’s needs.”