Cayman’s tourism industry will have to wait until next year for a new road map to guide its development. Work on replacing the expired tourism plan has been put on hold until the end of the 2025 general election and the subsequent installation of a tourism minister.
Tourism Ministry Chief Officer Stran Bodden relayed this decision to the Public Accounts Committee last Thursday when he appeared before the committee to answer questions about the Auditor General’s recent performance report on Cayman Airways.
Bodden, responding to a question from PAC Chairman and Opposition Leader Roy McTaggart on the status of the plan, said the Ministry and the Department of Tourism had decided to extend the former National Tourism Plan, which expired in December, and hold off on a new plan until next year.
“It is still a very dynamic and comprehensive document,” he said, adding that the ministry will be publishing an adapted ‘roll forward’ document this month.
Bodden said the ministry will then develop a new national tourism plan next year, as noted in the Auditor General’s report.
“What is anticipated is that the next administration of government, that will be their plan, and they be able to take that forward during that term in terms of the initiatives, any projects identified, any changes in perspectives in terms of how to best leverage tourism for the entrepreneurship and employees in tourism,” he said.
The National Tourism Plan was developed under the Progressives-led administration. Bodden said the ministry envisions having a new plan in place by December next year, given the election happens by next April.
Bodden assured PAC that the National Tourism Plan process is always a stakeholder engagement-focussed process. Typically there would be meetings in each district throughout the three islands.
“We have focus groups with all major stakeholders. We meet with CITA [and] SITA, being the Sister Islands Tourism Association, as well. So, we’re very all encompassing in our approach and engaging stakeholders to get their focus in terms of determining the way forward for tourism,” Bodden said.
Developing a long-term vision
Cayman Islands Tourism Association President Troy Leacock told the Cayman Compass that he was not surprised that the tourism plan would be put on hold.
He said he is hoping the new plan will not be limited to five years, but be something longer term and more strategic, in the vein of a development plan.
“That sort of development plan really needs to be prepared against the backdrop or in the context of a national development plan, which really hasn’t started,” he said.
“I think that it’s only possible to do it within that context, because tourism depends so much on infrastructure, on population growth, potentially through immigration in order to staff the service industry and those kinds of things.”
Leacock said the reality is the industry is still in recovery since COVID, and it is still building visitor numbers.
He expected to see a continuation of the short-term goals from the previous plan and a way forward for both stay-over and cruise tourism in the new placeholder document.
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