The Cayman Islands Tourism Association stands stronger than
ever, with a dynamic and enthusiastic board of directors set to tackle the
challenges that lay in the path of getting Cayman’s tourism industry
up-to-speed and to continue to compete with other jurisdictions in the region.
At the top of CITA’s priority list is the issue of cruise
tourism, as the association recognises the fundamental importance of having
sufficient arrivals to support the infrastructure that has organically been
developed. Finding the magic number of cruise arrivals has a number of
contributing factors such as:
- When they
arrive, ideally being spread throughout the year and where possible spread
throughout the week - The
average spend per visitor, which is largely affected by the passenger flow and
factors such as the type of ship and time of year come into play - Cruise
experience, which in order to maintain a positive one the ease of passenger
flow and positive visitor experience are critical. Achieving this should also
result in a higher rate of cruise conversion, which translates as the passenger
choosing to come back to the Cayman Islands as a stay-over visitor.
Although the airlift arrivals for 2011 have seen some of the
most successful numbers Cayman has seen, the cruise numbers are not hopeful.
The tourism industry has two major components that drive the economic success
therefore it is important that CITA works toward the success of both cruise and
air arrivals to the Cayman Islands. CITA’s Board of Directors would like to see
an appropriate agreement for the George Town Cruise Port established by 1
September, 2011, in order to bring forth a suitable development solution for
this segment of our industry.
CITA’s Board of Directors for the 2011/12 term had a recent
strategy session where they established some additional short term priorities
to focus on which include:
- Achieve
direct air service from Dallas, which has been identified as a key target
market for the destination - Lobby for
Speed Limit Reduction on West Bay Road and for the implementation of several
cross walks to ensure the safety of visitors in high traffic areas - Implementation
of taxi meters in order to improve the service experience and protect the
consumer - Establish
and communicate the industry position on key issues facing tourism including
proposed projects. - Revisit
and update the National Tourism Management Policy (which is the framework for
the overall master development plan for tourism - Achieve Implementation of a tourism
police initiative for the Cayman Islands - Increase
participation from condos and villas in new online booking engine www.CayDirect.com, with the intention to
increase occupancy in this sector and increase the number of condos in the
short term market. - Lobby
for solid waste management improvements and recycling and be involved in the
process of finding a solution - Lobby for
rollover policy to be revised in order to protect our economy and keep
employees who are committed to the Cayman Islands.
Competition is fierce
among similar jurisdictions within the Caribbean and Cayman has to do all it
can to ensure that it grabs a slice of the pie for itself. There is no reason
why we can’t achieve growth in our market share but it will take the
partnership of private sector and public sector to achieve this.
For more information:
Trina Christian, Executive Director
T: 949 8522
E: [email protected]
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