As countries around the world wind down their remaining COVID restrictions, Tourism and Transport Minister Kenneth Bryan has said the country is not quite ready to disband Travel Cayman and the pre-travel approval requirement to enter the jurisdiction.
Bryan, speaking on the Cayman Compass Facebook talkshow The Resh Hour Wednesday evening, said disbanding Travel Cayman eventually would not be a simple issue to address.
“The government’s responsibility is to balance the freedom of travel with the health and safety of the country,” he said. “As you know, when we started Travel Cayman, getting the necessary documentation and approvals were the key components to that safety concern… COVID has not disappeared. COVID is still a serious issue, it is still deadly, particularly for those who have underlying issues.”
This, he said, is the rationale behind the government’s decision to keep the department operating for now.
Currently, anyone entering the Cayman Islands is required to obtain a travel authorisation from Travel Cayman, an entity that was set up while Cayman was in lockdown to manage quarantine and documentation of incoming travellers.
“There may be some changes that may affect Travel Cayman in some ways, but again, this is for the premier to announce. The most important thing is, the caucus is aware that eventually we have to move away from the Travel Cayman process. We have to get back to the full freedom of travel so there’s no impediments in respect to allowing people to come to the Cayman Islands,” he said.
Members of the Cayman Islands Tourism Association have cited the requirement for vaccinated and unvaccinated travellers to receive a ‘Travel Declaration’ or ‘Travel Request for Quarantine’, respectively, as a disincentive for tourists coming to Cayman, especially when so many other destinations in the Caribbean have lifted their restrictions and made it easier to visit.
Bryan said government is aware of the challenges that lie ahead for Cayman, as consumer prices skyrocket and economists suggest a global recession is looming.
“We need those [tourism] revenues, and we need to get people back here, so people can get back to work, so we can get money to take care of people in these hard times,” he added.
On the other side of this issue with Travel Cayman, Bryan said, is the future of the Caymanians employed at that agency.
“We do not want to be just shutting it down and have another group of Caymanians unemployed. We have already talked to the [deputy governor] and the governor – they are responsible for hiring and firing of any civil servants – to be minded that we are eventually going to move away from this [and asked] can they find different locations within the civil service to transition them to… to fill any gaps that are open,” he said.
He said the Travel Cayman team had helped the islands recover, and “we are indebted to them for that”.
Getting ready for high season
Bryan said, while there is a slowdown during the summer months, the major airlines, which are grappling with staff shortages and route reductions, are gearing up for the high season.
“We keep updated as to what the airlines are trying to do to solve this problem,” he said. “I believe that by the time the new high season starts, which is the end of October/start of November, that we will see that most of those airlines will have resolved [those issues].”
We have to get back to the full freedom of travel so there’s no impediments in respect to allowing people to come to the Cayman Islands. Tourism Minister
Kenneth Bryan
He added that he believes that the lifting of travel restrictions in Cayman will lead to more airlift being available.
“By the high season, I hope that this country does not have any restrictions anymore. That means, regardless if you are vaccinated or not, you can come… no [pre-arrival] testing, no masks, none of those restrictions,” Bryan said.
He said government is working to lift travel restrictions to allow for the freedom of travel to “flourish while [visitors] still want to travel before it gets too expensive in a potential recession”.
Changes to regulations
The Minister of Tourism says changes to the government’s COVID-19 regulations are on the way, with an announcement likely in the next few days.
Pressed on what the changes will look like, Bryan urged patience, saying, “Let’s wait to see what the announcements are, and we should get that in about a week.”
He said the government caucus has looked at proposed changes to the restrictions, and these must now go through the process of Cabinet approval, after which Premier Wayne Panton will made the formal announcement.
Panton will determine how that will be done, either by a press briefing or a media release, he said.
Bryan said he is “not satisfied” with April’s statistics of 25,114 stayover visitors and would like to see an increase in monthly arrivals.
April’s numbers were 55% of April 2019’s arrivals.
Bryan said he believes the changes to the travel regulations inevitably will help boost numbers.
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Heh I said that this was a jobs program long ago. It is funny to hear him twist and turn to give us a good reason for Travel Cayman to exist but eventually the truth came out.
Won’t cone back probably ever. Turks, USVI and Mexico are happy to have us without hassle.
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Why is the Travel Cayman visa good for only 3 MONTHS ???!!! I’m double vaxxed and doubly boosted—-won’t change in 3 months, why isn’t it permanent? The cruise ships come and go with no new test required to come on the island……
I think government needs to realize that people plan their vacations many months in advance. Waiting until high season starts to remove the strict regulations will be too late. They will have already booked elsewhere.
Well said
The rationale to keep Travel Cayman in place is that it will eliminate jobs. Bryan fails to realize that reopening leads to job creation. This entire government is a sham.
If you want full employment allow enterprise to create jobs. Competition for good employees leads to wage increases. Stop throttling development and growth. This is counter to job creation and improving living standards.
“On the other side of this issue with Travel Cayman, Bryan said, is the future of the Caymanians employed at that agency.” And that is the bottom line. Travel Cayman isn’t going anywhere any time soon. Since it is sticking around we should require ALL visitors to apply to Travel Cayman, just imagine how many more people the government could employ if cruise ship passengers had to get permission to arrive here.
The hardest thing to get rid of is a government agency that serves no function anymore.
Keeping Travel Cayman going to keep Caymanians employed is illogical. It would be better to pay them to stay home and do nothing rather than creating hassles for travelers who want to inject much needed funds into the local economy thereby creating more “real” jobs.
Awesome comment and totally true.
I suppose we should credit the minister with honesty, but what incredible naivety. To openly admit that one of the principal reasons for keeping Travel Cayman is to protect temporary jobs which were created specifically to deal with the pandemic demonstrates this Government’s wrong-headed priorities. The damage being done by the continued travel restrictions is incalculable. To wait till the high season before taking action would be the height of lunacy, effectively destroying the tourism market for another year with all the consequent loss of revenue, not just immediate, but for years to come. People will be deflected to other Caribbean destinations and never return.
The timidity of these politicians is mind blowing, always with one eye on getting re-elected, hence the desire to show that they have their employees/voters interests at heart.
You nailed it. People make these decisions MONTHS in advance. This ensures another low “high” season and more record tourism for Turks and Caicos, Anguilla, and all the other substitutes.
Why not release some of these hard working folks to those of us in the private sector who are desperately trying to hire Caymanians? It is so difficult right now to hire a work permit, and yet the government seems to be taking all the Caymanians. You can’t tell us we need to hire more Caymanians, and at the same time, overpay them for a job that doesn’t require them anymore!!! Free market please.
This really is bonkers. It serves no purpose. All it is is a hassle that says we don’t want tourism. We are getting decent occupancy on some vacation condos but only at the expense of rates which are 50% down. If you try putting them up no one books. They go to more expensive alternatives that are easier to deal with. The world will have moved on a long way before we realize just how far we’ve been left behind.
Keep up the good work Tourism Minister Bryan, et al!!
Thank you for recognizing that your first and foremost responsibility is to protect your Caymanian people.
Most reasonable, respectful individuals comprehend your position. The tourists either need to understand as well, or go elsewhere if they don’t.
Please know that there are MANY who stand behind your decisions and appreciate all you do for your people!
If you and others feel this way, why don’t we stop the cruise ships from calling? Cruise ship passengers don’t require a lateral flow Covid test or apply for Travel Cayman approval to get off the ship, yet people traveling by air are required to have a lateral flow test and apply to Travel Cayman. A cruise ship is an incubator for Covid and passengers travel from the US to other Caribbean Islands before stopping in Cayman and could easily spread Covid to Caymanians. Is Government really protecting Caymanians? Why not just shut the Island down again and kill the local economy even more so the only way to raise revenue to pay for Social Services is to raise Import and Stamp Duty, work permits, etc. which will make Caymanians and Expats pay more! Is this what you want?
And I still haven’t seen any rationale as to why cruisers can just waltz in but air travelers have to deal with the hassle of the portal. Unbelievable.
Typical left-wing approach with more red tape, grabbing more power and endlessly growing bureaucracy. Which will never shrink back again, unless we vote conservatives back in.
This government needs to wake up and get into the real world and reality! They ate buying votes with their reckless decisions. In the mean time they are promoting a welfare state. Wake up the rest of the world is leavinging you clowns behind!
Effective Sunday 19th June 2022 at 12:01 am The Bahamas Travel Health Visa (BTHV) will no longer be required to travel to The Bahamas.
All unvaccinated travelers ages 2 and older will be required to obtain a negative COVID-19 test – either a negative RT-PCR or a
Rapid Antigen Test to be presented at check-in.
Vaccinated travelers will only be required to present proof of vaccination at check-in.
It appears that Government does not care about tourism by insisting on keeping Travel Cayman.
Keep Travel Cayman.
It’s simply an exercise in logic.
If you truly want to keep the Cayman Islands attractive to those who are concerned with a healthy vacation and a healthy island
continue with Cayman Travel. Who wants to travel to a destination with a high transmission rate? Aren’t we all trying to avoid getting Covid? Travelers who are not vaccinated have a greater probability of getting/transmitting Covid.
Isn’t that the discourage of Travel Cayman.
The site is easy to use and is relatively quick to respond.
Apparently 50% of the people who normally would come to the Cayman Islands are choosing to go somewhere else rather than go through needless hoops:
QUOTE: Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos Islands (May 24th 2022) – As the tourism sector continues to rebound, the Turks and Caicos is once again breaking visitor arrival records, with some 138,762 air arrivals and 173,151 cruise arrivals in the first quarter of 2022. The Turks and Caicos Islands Tourist Board is pleased to release the preliminary figures, showing that the destination has seen a major increase in visitor arrivals.
TravelCayman has been the worst form of advertising for the Cayman Islands as a tourism destination. Its website is amateurish and the whole ethos for its existence is questionable since you had to show a vaccination certificate at the airport in order to board the flight. We have experienced many vacation cancellations from people not wishing to jump through the Cayman Islands hoops and barriers. Let’s not bring back more “consultants” and “experts” from other countries including the UK with their bad advice. No more “Lee-way”…
Johnstock 70 S, you are spot on… your thinking maskes complete sense to rational people!!