Newly appointed Tourism Minister and Deputy Premier Gary Rutty promised to help regain the “lost magic” of the Caymanian tourism experience at an industry event on 3 July.
The minister was greeted by applause several times during his speech at the Cayman Islands Tourism Association forum at the Grand Cayman Marriott Resort at which he laid out his priorities for the industry, including cleaning up Public Beach, boosting local employment and promoting Caymanian culture to visitors.
Rutty said that while he had been appointed to the role of tourism minister just seven weeks ago, he had already held many meetings with businesses in the tourism sector and would bring his 35 years of business experience, including running a hotel, to the role.
Caymanian warmth
“A priority that I will be devoting a lot of my time and attention to is creating opportunities for Caymanians,” he said.
“To take this industry forward, we have to go back to recognising that our greatest asset isn’t just our landscape, it is our Caymanian people. When tourists began arriving on our shores decades ago, they came here for the sun, sea and sand, but they return year after year, attracted by the warmth and friendliness of Caymanians and the sense of being welcomed back like family.
“Somewhere along the way, we have lost some of that magic, and it is working against us.”
He underscored the need to spotlight Caymanians and Caymanian culture as central to the tourism experience.
“How many more times must we hear visitors asking, ‘Where are the Caymanians?’ before we really do something about it? I know I’m not the only one in this room that would like to see more Caymanians in every part of this industry, greeting guests, guiding tours and interacting with visitors at every possible touchpoint,” he said.
He added that he would be working with his ministry team to ensure that “Caymanian culture is at the forefront of our tourism product, being visibly celebrated and woven into every visitor’s vacation experience”.
Rutty had stern words about Seven Mile Public Beach, which he said fell short of what was expected.
“On a recent visit to Public Beach, I was extremely disappointed to see beach chairs tossed in bushes, garbage left behind, and barbecues chained to light poles,” he said.
“This is not the experience of Cayman that we want our visitors to have. As the minister for tourism, I cannot allow this type of thing to continue on my watch. I am not at all satisfied with the situation at Public Beach, and have already reached out to the relevant ministries and departments to address these concerns.”
He also said that he had arranged for clean-up teams to visit Smith Barcadere and for its signage to be improved, and he was also looking to improve lighting along the Seven Mile Beach corridor.
Minimum wage update
Rutty was able to give more information on the new minimum wage, following government’s recent announcement that it was being increased from $6 to $8.75 at the start of next year.
As before, the amount can be made up of a base rate topped up by gratuities, with the base rate now being $6.56 and the remaining 25% or $2.19 allowed to be made up from an approved gratuity scheme.
If gratuities aren’t sufficient, then employers will be required by law to make up the difference to the full amount.
Rutty said he hoped that “the new minimum wage comes closer to achieving a balance between ensuring fairness for workers, while remaining sensitive to the realities faced by businesses”.
His speech also called for the Cayman Islands national airline Cayman Airways to have WiFi onboard its planes, so that passengers could easily work during flights.
He said he was also speaking with the airline board to see how it could improve load factors and re-evaluate routes and schedules to maximise opportunities, pointing out that “the most expensive seats on their flights are the empty ones, and that’s because they represent a lost opportunity”.
Tourism strategy
As for cruise, Rutty said that he was working to develop “a comprehensive national cruise tourism strategy” for the industry, while at the same time creating an interim cruise tourism strategy by the end of the year.
“Cruise tourism is not a second-tier product, and it is not something we do on the side”, he said.
“It is, and must remain, an integral part of our tourism economy.”
His speech was followed by an update on 2025 tourism numbers by Rosa Harris, director of the Cayman Islands Department of Tourism. She said that there had been a 5.9% increase in stayover visitors between January and May compared to the same period last year, reaching a total of 221,490 people, with the United States making up 83.7% of visitors, Canada 7.6%, and UK and Europe 4.5%.
Cruise numbers have also risen in 2025, with a 2.3% year-on-year increase in cruise visitors in the first five months of 2025 to 589,783. Carnival Corporation guests increased by 26% and Royal Caribbean increased by 46%. The biggest falls in cruise visitor numbers were from MSC Cruises and Disney Cruise Line.
Sargassum meeting
Cayman Islands Tourism Association president Sharlene Brenkus said the organisation was engaging with government on several critical topics affecting the industry, including beach erosion and the impact of sargassum, minimum wage, education, public transportation improvements, airlift and overall connectivity, airport infrastructure and efficiency moving people, and the long-term future of the industry.
The association is meeting with government in the next few weeks to discuss how to deal with the specific problem of sargassum, which is affecting hoteliers across the island.
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If only Caymanians would work in the tourism sector, then tourists wouldn’t ask where are the Caymanians. I really don’t know who is asking that. It almost seems like made up political speech.
Most Caymanians don’t want to be a chef, hotel maid, pool worker at the hotel, server, water sports operator, bartender, dish washer ect. They want to be a business owner without doing anything to get there. It’s all aparrent because there is plenty of jobs out there for my fellow Caymanians but sometimes we rather be “entitled Caymanians” and not work at all rather than take a job.
The island needs a new tourism product. The cross island bike path.
I’m not a biker but agree with the cross island bike path. It should follow a scenic path
I’m not sure that seeing Caymanians everywhere is the answer, how can we expect anyone to visit a location without a long stretch of white sand beach to relax on. For sure we can’t fit all our visitors into Smiths Cove.
What we need now is a beach replenishment programme ready to go, this is No.1 priority, but where is it?
I applaud the minister for his words and observations regarding public beach (which mirror what I’ve seen and said before).
The biggest most profound change he could bring during his term would to allow (and encourage) Uber and Lyft to come here, reserving the ability to serve as a driver for Caymanians. It’s a simple fix and it must happen because the drivers are the first line of contact. Uber can ad a simple tick the box for drivers in this area to confirm their status. We could show Cayman status on our drivers licenses.
The second biggest change would be to widen and modernize the sidewalk that runs along west bay road between the Kimpton and Georgetown. That sidewalk was designed for a different era. We need an 8 foot wide walkway between Georgetown and the beach on one side.