Topic: Department of Tourism
Arianna Chin named Cayman’s 2026 tourism ambassador
Cayman Prep & High School year student Arianna Chin has been named the 2026 Tourism Ambassador after winning the Tourism Ambassador Speak-Off Competition.
Tourism department appoints Swiss firm to market Cayman in Central Europe
Cayman's Department of Tourism has announced it has appointed the Swiss firm Kleber Group to strengthen the marketing in Central Europe.
Tourism dips in May, but Cayman still on track for strong 2025
Tourism numbers – both stayover and cruise – dipped in May, but Cayman’s visitor arrivals for 2025 are still on the rise, with visitation charting steady growth over the first five months of the year.
American Airlines to reintroduce evening flights on trial basis
The once-popular American Airlines evening flight from Miami to Grand Cayman will return later this year, although only for 26 days.
Canada can help drive Cayman’s tourism growth
While the United States remains Cayman’s main source, accounting for 83% of stayover arrivals, there is increasing momentum from Canada and other markets.
Delta to restart winter flights from Detroit to Grand Cayman in December
Delta Air Lines is to resume non-stop flights between Detroit and Grand Cayman this winter, with the service starting in December 2025 and running until April 2026.
Mystery over tourism marketing contract for UK and Europe
The government and tourism authorities were on Wednesday tight-lipped over a new contract for a public relations agency to handle tourism promotion in the UK and Europe.
Under the influence: Free trips for social media celebs used to sell Cayman
The Cayman Islands spends hundreds of thousands of dollars each year to fund visits for influencers, content creators and journalists who write or post about the destination, according to data from a freedom of information request.
What does Cayman get from funding trips? Here are the receipts
While in social media parlance the ‘receipts’ of a great vacation might go on Instagram or TikTok, the actual receipts of some of Cayman's most important visitors go to the Department of Tourism.
Travel writing let me experience Cayman – and the world
Tourism boards, as well as hotels, airlines and cruise ships, have long hosted journalists in exchange for coverage, and while there is no guarantee that the article will be positive, if you give the writer a week of five-star luxury, it’s unlikely to be critical.
Gilbert Nicoletta takes Cayman to the world on two wheels
Proudly displaying his Cayman Islands flag on the front of his leather jacket, Gilbert Nicoletta journeys around the world on his trusty motorcycles telling the story of his homeland every chance he gets.
Tourism thrives as stayover visitors near pre-pandemic highs
Efforts to boost stayover tourism are paying off with the latest statistics from the Department of Tourism pointing to stayover numbers that are approaching the pre-pandemic high recorded in early 2019.
Cayman ‘aggressively’ wooing Latin American market
Tourism and airline officials from Cayman have been doing the rounds of trade shows and conferences in Latin America recently, in a concerted effort to bring a new market of visitors to the islands.
January cruise visitors down almost 10,000 on last year
Tourism leaders have pointed to January's rough weather as the main reason behind a significant decline in Cayman's cruise visitor numbers for January, in comparison to the previous year.
1 million cruise passengers arrive in first 11 months of 2023
Cruise tourism arrivals in Cayman have surpassed 1 million passengers this year, for the first time since the pandemic, tourism officials have announced.
‘Warm Up in Cayman’ campaign woos New Yorkers
The alluring blue waters of the Cayman Islands's world famous Seven Mile Beach has been used in a new branded bus promotional campaign from the Department of Tourism to lure New Yorkers to visit this winter season.
Tourism director first Caymanian to win regional leadership award
Director of the Department of Tourism, Rosa Harris, has become the first Caymanian to be celebrated at the Caribbean Media Exchange (CMEx) Leadership Awards.
October air arrivals slow 2023 upward momentum
Cayman's October tourism numbers have broken the upward trend of this year's air arrivals' performance over 2022 with stats showing a 5% decline over last year's figures.
Cayman’s UK tourism chief leaves role; officials silent over suspect sponsorships
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.
John Gray student named 2023 tourism ambassador
The Cayman Islands has a new tourism ambassador - Rayne Harding of John Gray High School.
Tourism department attends media convention to strengthen diversity marketing
The Cayman Islands Department of Tourism said it is strengthened its diversity marketing efforts by participating in the 2022 National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) joint convention in Las Vegas
Global citizens shell out $142K for Cayman access
Cayman’s Global Citizen Concierge programme has netted KYD $142,154 in application fees since it began last October, according to statistics from the Department of Tourism.
Cayman’s jobseekers look to training options for reopening
Dozens of jobseekers turned out for the careers open day, held 8-9 Sept. at the Grand Cayman Marriott Beach Resort, to explore employment and learning opportunities through the National Tourism Training Programme.
Turning Cayman’s tourism around in a COVID world
Department of Tourism Director Rosa Harris says she is confident in the Cayman's tourism industry’s resilience and ability to bounce back.
Cayman room stock surpasses 7,000
The Ministry of Tourism has said more than 7,000 rooms are now available to visitors in the Cayman Islands.
Record stayover numbers for year to date
The 369,650 stayover visitors to Cayman for the first eight months of 2019 represented about a 10.7% increase over the 333,975 air arrivals registered during the same period last year.
Cayman homesharing market doubled in past year
Homesharing is expanding in Cayman.
New air arrival record set in month of May
Cayman’s tourism sector saw another record in May with 40,591 air arrivals for the month. It was the first time Cayman exceeded 40,000 passengers in May.
Tourism sector continues to smash records
Cayman saw 145,804 stayover visitors arrive during the first three months of 2019, an 8.67% increase over the first quarter of 2018, and the most stayovers recorded in the first quarter of any year in the territory’s history.
Government spent US$50,000 on KAABOO
The Department of Tourism sponsored the music festival KAABOO for US$50,000 in February, Tourism Minister Moses Kirkconnell said on Friday in Legislative Assembly.
Another month, another record for tourism numbers
The Cayman Islands recorded another record month for stayover tourism in February, with nearly 45,000 visitors arriving on the islands. The figure is an increase of more than 12 percent on the same period last year, which was itself a record.
EDITORIAL – Cayman homeowners smiling ‘ear to ear’ over ‘peer-to-peer’ rentals
Peer-to-peer housing rentals are an efficient way for our islands comfortably to accommodate increasing numbers of overnight visitors. In the short term, it’s certainly simpler and faster than building or expanding a traditional hotel – and involves significantly less in the way of capital investment.
Record arrivals for Cayman in 2018
Nearly 2.4 million visitors arrived in the Cayman Islands in 2018, the highest number recorded for a single year.
Cayman on pace for new high in stay-over tourism in 2018
Cayman was on track to surpass last year’s number of stay-over visitors, with 410,984 such visitors coming to the territory through Nov. 30, according to the Department of Tourism.
Cayman represented at UK Conservative Party conference
A team of Caymanians attended a United Kingdom Conservative Party conference in Birmingham earlier this week to educate government ministers, members of parliaments, and other attendees about the Cayman Islands.
EDITORIAL – More input sought on tourism plan: Here’s ours
Let us dare state what the report did not address (other than acknowledging its existence): This country has yet to resolve whether its future lies in being a high-end stay-over jurisdiction or a mass-market cruise ship destination.
Another month, another record as tourism growth continues
More than 1.3 million tourists arrived in the Cayman Islands by air and sea in the first six months of 2018, blitzing previous records.The total represents a 20-percent increase on the same period last year.
EDITORIAL – Getting government out of the ‘bedroom business’
If this government is, as it claims to be, “of and for the people,” it needs to re-examine what its regulatory policies are doing to the very people it purports to represent.
Cayman Craft market gets new look
Cayman Islands Craft Market has been given a fresh new look as part of a rebranding initiative.
Public invited to Airbnb meeting
The Department of Tourism and Airbnb will host the first of a series of public information sessions to let members of the public know how to set up Airbnb services.
EDITORIAL – Welcoming the world to Cayman
Cayman did not simply break our previous record for airplane arrivals in the first quarter of this year – it shattered them, putting us on pace for a fifth-straight record-breaking year.
EDITORIAL – Cayman cockfighting: Nothing to crow about
The Cayman Islands, home to some of the world’s most beautiful beaches, epicurean excellence and … cockfighting?
EDITORIAL – Eliminating the Saturday gridlock at Owen Roberts
Rather than the easy-breezy “rest of the week,” it is the conditions within those three hours of congestion that form the standard by which the performance of our public officials, and the still-under-renovation airport, will be judged.
Government spent $35 million on consultants in 5 years
The Cayman Islands government spent nearly $35 million during a five-year period on consultants to support a range of public projects, spending which was largely not monitored and which, in many instances, was done without a business case plan.
EDITORIAL – Major (but not terminal) problems arise at new airport
In the instance of Saturday’s breakdown of systems at the new arrivals hall, there was no “single point of failure.” Indeed the ostensible problem — long lines of unhappy tourists — was, in fact, simply a manifestation of a multitude of operational mishaps — many of them emanating from bad (or nonexistent) planning, others simply from bad luck.
Arrivals wing opens at Owen Roberts airport
The new arrivals hall at the Owen Roberts International Airport – the latest piece in the jigsaw of Cayman’s $55-million airport upgrade – opened this week.
Record 2.1 million tourists visited Cayman in 2017
A record number of tourists arrived in the Cayman Islands in 2017, with just over 2.1 million people arriving on these shores by air and sea.
Busiest November on record for air arrivals
More tourists arrived in the Cayman Islands by air last month than in any other November on record, tourism officials announced Wednesday.
Cayman has Caribbean’s highest hotel prices, study finds
Topping US$370 per night, hotel-room prices in Cayman are the highest in the Caribbean, growing 4.5 percent since last year, according to U.S.-based property and business valuation agency Integra Realty Resources.
Civil Aviation Authority exhibits at US convention
The Civil Aviation Authority of the Cayman Islands exhibited at the 70th annual National Business Aviation Association’s Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition.
Audit: Tourism department used unsigned contracts
Delays in contract negotiation led to a situation during the government’s 2015/16 budget year where some Department of Tourism contracts were not signed until months after they took effect, according to an internal audit.
Record summer as tourism figures soar
Air arrival figures continued to soar in July and August, with tourism officials predicting the Cayman Islands could see year-end visitor numbers in excess of 400,000 for the first time in 2017.
Sir Turtle first brand protected under new Trade Marks Law
The Cayman Islands government on Tuesday celebrated the commencement of the new Trade Marks Law, which has been touted as necessary for overhauling the territory’s intellectual property legal framework.
Cayman offers money-back guarantee for visits interrupted by hurricanes
Hurricane season started Thursday, and the Cayman Islands Department of Tourism is calming the fears of potential visitors with a guarantee.
Southwest Airlines to launch Cayman-Florida route
Dallas-based Southwest Airlines will open up a new route between Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Grand Cayman this summer.
Government hires consultants for five-year tourism plan
The Cayman Islands government has hired Washington, D.C.-based company Solimar to draw up a five-year “National Tourism Plan” for the islands. The company was chosen in a competitive tender process which began in April, the Department of Tourism announced in a press releas
Officials: Cayman Airways provides value for money
Cayman Airways will continue to need significant funding from government as long as it is required to serve unprofitable but strategically valuable routes like New York and Dallas, the airline’s CEO Fabian Whorms said last week.
Numbers provide snapshot of tourism industry
An American male, professional, aged between 36 and 49, earning between $100,000 and $150,000 a year and a previous visitor to the Cayman Islands.
EDITORIAL – Dressing up our illegal beach vendors
As regular readers of this editorial column are aware, we don’t normally advocate for the nationalization of a private sector industry. But hear us out …
EDITORIAL – Tourism stats: Rosier than Rosa’s report
We don’t want to make too much of the ever-so-slight decline in air arrivals to the Cayman Islands so far this year, but unfortunately our tourism officials have beat us to the punch.
Tourism chiefs mindful of Brexit impact on economy
Government is monitoring the potential impacts of Britain’s decision to leave the European Union on the Cayman Islands’ tourism industry, Deputy Premier Moses Kirkconnell said Monday.
Business in brief: Workshop held on culture/heritage policy
Members of the committee that is leading work to create the Cayman Islands’ first National Cultural and Heritage Policy and Plan.
Tourism department seeks 5-year plan
Cayman’s key attraction, Seven Mile Beach, risks losing its appeal as visitor numbers continue to rise, according to a Department of Tourism analysis of future industry trends.
EDITORIAL – Travel plan: Quality, quantity or both?
In terms of tourism, is the Cayman Islands a “quantity” destination or a “quality” destination?
Residents: Seven Mile Beach being destroyed by vendors
Unlicensed businesses, carelessly discarded trash and dangerous watercraft operations are adding to a “lawless mentality” on Grand Cayman’s Public Beach that residents have warned is in danger of being “destroyed by a growing horde of unlicensed vendors,” according to complaints filed last week with the government’s Ministry of Tourism.
New tourism commercials launched
A new tourism advertising campaign focusing on the Cayman Islands’ core strengths of beach, ocean and water sports has launched in the U.S.
Cayman tourism chiefs disappointed with BBC documentary
Tourism bosses say they are disappointed with the content of the recent BBC documentary on the Cayman Islands.
