Cayman may be suffering a hurricane hangover when it comes to stay-over visitors despite improved room stocks, pristine waters, healthy reefs and smaller crowds.
Director of condo and timeshare mixed resort, The Reef Resort in East End Tom McCallum explained that the summer is strong, but not as good as last year.
‘I am beginning to think that maybe Cayman and the Caribbean in general is suffering from a hurricane hangover after last year’s season with some visitors staying away,’ he said.
President of the Cayman Islands Tourism Association and Hyatt Regency General Manager Mark Bastis agrees.
‘There is no doubt that that is happening,’ he said. ‘It’s going to be a tough fall.’
Occupancy at the 53 operational beach suites is at 70 per cent for June and July while these available rooms should really be full, he said.
However, Mr. Bastis remains optimistic that 2006 will be a better year.
Director of Tourism Pilar Bush puts the issue in perspective.
‘While last year’s hurricane season is likely to cause some hesitation amongst travellers, especially in the August to November period, the core of the issue is that Grand Cayman has not fully recovered to its pre-Ivan levels of room stock, the natural environment is still sparse and in some cases, unattractive – such as the uprooted casuarinas trees still lying around or the derelict cars and materials from recent reconstruction that individuals leave at the roadside in plain view.
‘Add to that the unprecedented US government spending on domestic tourism promotion, which is expected to exceed US$600 million in the 2004/05 fiscal year, and one can easily see that the competition for summer travel is fierce,’ she said.
For example, the top five US states’ public-sector spending for tourism development and promotion are: Hawaii at US$69million, Illinois at US$47.8 million, Pennsylvania at US$33 million, Texas at US$30.6 million and Florida at US$28.6 million.
‘Three of these top five states have beach destinations. As you can see, we here in the Cayman Islands have our work cut out for us.’ Ms. Bush said.
Nancy Easterbrook of Divetech and CITA watersports Director said: ‘In general, the sentiment coming from the hotels and the watersports companies is that it is going to be a tough year’.
However, there is better news from Comfort Suites, which is running at 100 per cent occupancy. It is looking very good for well into July and it is having a much better summer than last year.
‘I’m not sure if this is because there are more people on the island, but maybe because Treasure Island is not taking hotel bookings and Indies Suites is gone. We also offer affordable prices,’ said General Manager Brian Shiels.
Courtyard Marriott Resort Manager Steven Schwartz also has a positive outlook.
‘I think [hoteliers] are prematurely freaking out because bookings don’t look good, but what is happening is the booking window is so small now – people are leaving it very close to the time they come here to book,’ he said.
The 232 room Courtyard Marriott looks as though summer occupancy will be up on last year’s, he said.
Managing Director of the Grand Cayman Marriott Resort Chris Sariego said June and July are good, but August and September are looking soft at the moment. However, he said indications point to the beginning of high season, coming up to Christmas, picking up pace.
According to Arie Barendrecht of Cobalt Coast Resort in West Bay, occupancy is at 60 per cent to 65 per cent, similar to last year.
This is quite normal for the summer, he said.
He cited the Summer Splash Programme run in conjunction with DoT, which involves special offers of free accommodation, meals, activities and flights for children.
Ms Bush pointed to the hard work behind the scenes by the hospitality industry.
‘Despite some wary travellers’ hurricane fears, the Cayman Islands tourism industry (DoT, CAL, CITA and SITA) is taking steps to overcome their fears by working closely with the travel agents, wholesalers and travel writers. Many hotels and several airlines have put special offers in the Cayman Summer Splash programme for June-August and we continue to experience a trend of late bookings as consumers wait on the best ‘last minute deal’.
‘Another way to minimize the likelihood of decreased business is to follow the lead of some hotels in the region — and at least one on Grand Cayman — by offering a hurricane guarantee where guests know upfront what their options are to re-book in the event a hurricane threatens during their scheduled vacation time.
‘The DoT would encourage other properties and airlines to consider developing their own hurricane-guarantee policies and get this message out to travel partners. Many times a full refund is not necessary – instead giving the consumer the ability to re-book without a penalty is sufficient,’ she said.
According to Ms Easterbrook persuading travel-trade representatives to return for familiarisation tours is a top priority. One occurred in May during the Cayman Islands Tourism Exchange. A Scuba Bowl for dive shops, the world’s largest dive-familiarisation trip, will occur in October.
‘All those groups of people touch so many consumers. By getting the travel-trade people back here, we are showing them the beautiful islands here – that our reefs have been virtually untouched and that the marine life is healthy,’ she said.
Although a lot of dive businesses may be struggling in the short term with a lack of clientele, Ms. Easterbrook said there are a lot of new positives that will eventually pay off.
‘Almost everything is brand new, with newly painted, renovated accommodations and renewed sentiments of hospitality towards tourists. Having missed our tourists for so long after Ivan we realise we need to treat them as gold now,’ she said.
She projects that many businesses are simply existing and gearing towards accommodation stock getting back to pre-Ivan levels and a busy high season for 2006.
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