Letter to the Editor

Concern over photo's effect on tourism

Monday, February 23, 2004

Dear Sir,

On behalf of the Cayman Islands Tourism Association (CITA), I would like to express my severe concern about yesterday's (Thursday, 19 February) front-page photo and headline of the Cayman Net News regarding the recent criminal activity. 

The CITA office has received calls from a number of its members expressing the same concern about the detrimental effect of such a front-page display.

As you are well aware, the Cayman Islands greatly depends on tourism for revenue generation and more than 30 percent of its employment. 

Headlines and photos like this have a negative impact on all the efforts by the private and public sector to stimulate visitor arrivals to Cayman, as news gets shared locally, regionally and internationally. In the interest of protecting the Cayman Islands' image, we urge you to use your discretion when deciding what photos to include on your front pages and website, bearing in mind the image of one of the biggest industries on the island is at stake. With all due respect, we request that you remove the image currently posted on the website. 

Safety and security have been, and will continue to be, one of Cayman's selling points in the international market. The incidents over the last weekend are very sad and regrettable, however, they are isolated incidents and should be treated as such in the media. Newspaper features like this recent example can seriously harm the Cayman Islands' reputation and image as a visitor destination and no marketing budget can fix this damage. 

Journalism in the Cayman Islands, as everywhere, should be responsible, with the best long-term interest of the country at heart, however it seems that sensationalism has taken over in the interest of selling more newspaper copies. 

The ramifications of the photo and headline for your fellow CITA members could be severe and we have been informed by a number of our accommodation members, that they have pulled all the copies of this newspaper edition from their properties. 

Mark Bastis
CITA President

Editor's note

This newspaper stands by its decision to publish the photograph and reports related to the two recent murders. We are a newspaper of record. We deal in facts. We also support the rule of law and the right of the Police Commissioner to deploy his resources publicly, as he sees fit, in the fight against crime. We hope that picture did shock the people of Cayman. We hope it shocks everyone into solving the problem, not covering it up. 

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