Most North Siders aren’t against tourism.
They just don’t want their pristine district to be turned into anything that resembles Seven Mile Beach.
That was the message tourism gurus heard Monday night at a meeting to get public input on the National Tourism Management Policy.
Chris Evans of UK-based The Tourism Company, which was hired to develop the policy. Photo: File
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‘There’s one thing that sums up North Side; leave it alone,’ said Bo Miller, a condominium developer in Old Man Bay.
He was one of seven people who showed up for the North Side meeting.
A five-year tourism management policy was adopted in 2002 and ends this year. The Ministry and Department of Tourism are holding public meetings in all districts this week to get public comments on the policy for the next five years.
‘We need to look at whether it’s working, is it not working and what needs to be changed,’ said Department of Tourism Director Pilar Bush. ‘We want to make sure we have a high-quality product for the visitor.’
In addition to wooing international visitors to our shores, the policy should also address locals and encourage them to spend their vacation dollars in the Cayman Islands.
The original action plan had 70 items; nine have been completed, 36 are in progress and 25 have not been addressed.
Failure came because the volunteers put in charge of the action items had too much going on in their professional and personal lives.
The next policy will be crafted so that people are held accountable and update meetings are held regularly.
Chris Evans of UK-based The Tourism Company, which was hired to develop the policy, said the policy adopted five years ago is still relevant. It just needs to be tweaked.
‘Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. This is a review. We’re not going back to Square One.’
One of the concerns raised Monday night was the legislated height of buildings. Law provides for five storey buildings, which all North Side residents at the meeting agreed is too tall for that district.
‘We do not need to become a concrete jungle like West Bay and George Town,’ said North Side MLA Edna Moyle.
She suggested the new policy address the law that allows tall buildings. She said she would also like to see a small hotel opened in the district.
Mr. Evans said Planning should be involved in the policy.
Mr. Miller said he is concerned that yet another report is being done on tourism.
‘In a nutshell we have reports coming out of our ears,’ he said. ‘This industry is in trouble, serious trouble. We cannot continue to develop tourism in the Cayman Islands based on our competition.’
He called for a moratorium on hotel and condominium development.
‘We cannot even get a 50 per cent occupancy on the units we have now,’ he said. ‘We are now out like a bunch of mad people…looking for more hotels.’
His tenants include tourists, who he said he talks with daily.
‘There is not one happy, happy guest in this country anymore. They tell me ‘if you turn it (North Side) into Seven Mile Beach we’re going to Anguilla.”
He is also concerned that the Go East initiative, which is in place to attract more tourists to the Eastern districts, will attract unwanted development.
Ms Bush defended the initiative, speaking for Tourism Minister Charles Clifford who could not attend the meeting because he has the flu.
‘He (Mr. Clifford) is very clear that Go East is community based and scale appropriate,’ she said.
Mrs. Moyle expressed concern about the lack of Caymanians in the hospitality and tourism industries.
‘I have heard for years we need more Caymanians in the hospitality industry. I agree 100 per cent. How are we going to do that? None of us are saying to our kids there is a living in the hospitality industry.’
She suggested the schools be brought in to the picture.
National Trust Director Frank Roulstone, also a North Side resident, said he is constantly challenged to hire Caymanians.
‘I’m trying to hire people and obviously at the National Trust for the Cayman Islands I cannot go out and hire the cheapest source of labour to do the job that needs to be done. I have to hire people that are passionate about this country, environment and its history. I cannot go out and hire someone based on economics. So I have to find someone who has a genuine interest in this country. Those people are working in the financial industry. They’re working in many different industries and their making, pardon me, damned good money.
‘The problem is not that Caymanians are not interested in the hospitality industry. The hostility industry is not interested in Caymanians because they can get anyone to serve a plate of food. And I’m sorry but it comes right back to over development.’
Ms Bush assured the group that the Ministry and Department of Tourism are reaching out to students, adults and the community to educate them about tourism.
She said the challenge to attracting more Caymanians to the industry is salary.
‘Our challenge is to say here’s why you should do it for a little bit more fun. If you do really well you can offset the difference in salary,’ she said.
Too, she echoed Mr. Roulstone who said there aren’t enough Caymanians to keep up with the country’s economy.
‘At a national level we need to figure out is it more important that a Caymanian serve a guest or teach your child or that a Cayman nurse is going to take care of your father in hospital?’
More and more students are showing interest in the hospitality industry, but many aren’t choosing that field when they get out of high school.
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