Cayman Islands Tourism Association President Troy Leacock says vendors on Seven Mile Public Beach and operators in the North Sound should be regulated as Cayman rebuilds its post-COVID tourism industry.
Leacock, commenting on last week’s raid on unlicensed vendors at Public Beach, welcomed action on the illegal vending, but said the situation is indicative of a lack of planning when it comes the industry.
“If you go back to 20 years ago, nobody was selling anything on the public beach… mainly local residents used the public beach. As you develop and you place more strain on your infrastructure, as more of the empty beach sections are now having condos built on them, there’s more pressure being put on that little piece of beach. Cruise visitors come and suddenly you got chairs, you got vendors, you got all sorts of things going on,” he said when he appeared on the Cayman Compass Facebook show ‘The Resh Hour’ Wednesday.
Beach inspectors ordered all traders off Public Beach during the 16 March raid, taking enforcement action following months of complaints. Any traders still operating at the beach next week can be arrested and brought to court and have their wares confiscated and destroyed, according to the Public Lands Inspectorate.
Leacock said the situation at the beach raises a number of issues, paramount of which is public and visitor safety.
“You can’t have jet skis going in and out of an area where people are swimming and snorkelers are snorkeling out to the reef and getting hit in the head by a jet ski that’s going or coming. So for safety, for level of service, it has to be regulated. But then, is it fair to say ‘Oh well, only these 10 vendors are going to be able to vend when there’s another 30 out here that want to make a living,” he said.
It all comes down to how the country is planning for its development and its tourism industry, he added.
“What is your capacity for that asset? … Do you just leave it for a free-for-all for anybody to come down and vend on the beach? You really can’t have that, for safety reasons,” he said.
Cabinet has yet to announce the approval of a planned permitting process which would allow the Public Lands Commission to grant or deny vendor applications. This is expected to happen in the coming weeks.
WIZ management
Leacock also took issue with what he described as a lack of management of the Wildlife Interaction Zones at Stingray City and the Sandbar, stating that the same lack of regulation seen on Public Beach is happening at those two popular marine tourism attractions.
“I’m not quite sure what the solution is on the public beach, but I know that it has to be managed, it has to be licensed in some way. It’s the same issue with the North Sound and the licensing. You can’t have an unlimited supply of boats every week. There’s another boat that’s being added to the pool that’s going to the Sandbar,” he said.
While there is a limit on the number of boats allowed into the Stingray City and Sandbar WIZ zones, he does not believe that limit is being monitored or enforced.
He questioned what was happening with a WIZ taskforce that lawmakers unanimously voted in favour of in Parliament last year after West Bay MP McKeeva Bush brought the suggestion of forming such an entity through a private members’ motion.
Bush’s motion, which also included a recommendation to freeze the issuance of new WIZ licences, called on legislators to look into the capacity, licensing regime and protection of Caymanian operators at Stingray City and the Sandbar.
Under the existing WIZ licensing stipulations, vessels cannot enter the Sandbar or Stingray City if there are already 20 tourist boats at the sites. The number of people allowed in the area at any one time is 1,500, and vessels are not permitted to carry more than 100 passengers per trip.
Leacock said the situation is now at a point where there are boats waiting to get into the sites as vessels with guests engage with the stingrays.
“It just changes the whole feel of it when it’s under pressure, and I feel that we need to be less reactive to certain situations. We need to start being more proactive and start planning. What do we want the shape of our tourism and the product and service that we’re offering to be?” he asked.
Related Videos
I agree that vendors should be regulated but that should be everywhere along the beach. Red Sail sports operates from the Marriott. They run jet skis and boats through a swimming area all day long.
It is hard to believe that this conversation is taking place now and not 5-10 years ago This problem didn’t just start now. Where is the government when real thinks that effect everyday life are here??