Cayman tourism’s marketing director for the UK and Europe appears to have moved on from the role, some nine months after the Compass revealed his role in a suspect sponsorships scandal.
Adrian White is no longer listed on the Visit Cayman Islands webpage and his LinkedIn profile indicates his employment ended with the Cayman Islands Department of Tourism in September.
Records obtained by the Compass under the Freedom of Information Act showed that the department had paid out more than half-a-million dollars in taxpayer funds to a series of UK-based sports teams, as sponsorships in an apparent effort to boost visitation from Europe.
One of the teams sponsored was a recreational field hockey team, with no fan base, linked to Adrian White, Cayman’s then senior tourism official in the UK.
Department of Tourism officials said they were unaware of the links between White and the Old Cranleighan Hockey Club, which had been receiving $10,000 a year from government for the three years covered by the FOI response, until the Compass investigation, which was published in February of this year.
White was a player and coach for the Surrey team.
Responding to the Compass report at that time, the department said it took “The perception of conflict of interest – whether real or apparent” seriously and would review the matter.
White continued, at least officially, to be employed by the department until last month.
His personal LinkedIn page indicates that he has now left the job and moved on to a new full-time role with Uber boats in London.
The Department of Tourism meanwhile has declined to release any information on the matter.
“I must advise that for confidentiality reasons the Department does not comment on employee matters,” a spokesperson wrote in response to questions from the Compass.
Call for more transparency
Asked if there had been any investigation into the sponsorships policy or any changes in policy as a result, the spokesperson did not respond.
The Compass continues to press government to provide more transparency on its use of public funds.
The Ombudsman ruled last month that the DoT is required to provide the Compass with unredacted copies of its sponsorship agreements as well as the business case for some $500,000 in spending on sports teams and events in the UK.
Some of the teams sponsored were amateur clubs with no fan base and limited media coverage.
A list of Department of Tourism partnerships for 2021 – provided to the Compass following the open records request – includes £23,000 per year for Rosslyn Park FC for a rugby sevens tournament, £20,000 a year for the Richmond FC rugby team, and around £12,000 over two years for the Weybridge Vandals amateur rugby club.
At current exchange rates, the amounts listed in English pounds would be approximately the same in Cayman Islands dollars.
The records, supplied to the Compass in December last year – almost 12 months after the FOI request was first filed – were heavily redacted.
The Ombudsman has now ruled the department was wrong to claim details of the deals were ‘commercially sensitive’ or protected as ‘trade secrets’ that could not be shared with the public.
Ombudsman Sharon Roulstone also reprimanded the department for its “slow and selective” response to the Compass‘s request.
“This is not an acceptable way of answering requests under the Freedom of Information Act,” she said, in a comprehensive ruling that sided with the Compass in almost every aspect of its appeal.
Following the Ombudsman’s ruling on 14 Sept. government is required to hand over unredacted copies of its agreements with all the sports clubs receiving sponsorship funds from the Cayman Islands Department of Tourism, as well as the business case process for each of those agreements.
The department has 45 days from that date to indicate if it intends to appeal the Ombudsman’s ruling to the Grand Court.
As of today, the Compass has not received the documents or any indication if the DoT intends to appeal.
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Who signed off on these sponsorships?
What oversight was there?
Did anyone do any research about these sports teams and the likely benefit to our tourism industry?
What a surprise – the whole thing could never have passed the “ Sniff Test “ and nobody will be held accountable for allowing CIG to be ripped off yet again.