EDITORIAL
Giving Visitors A Taste Of Local Flavour
Friday, June 4, 2004
It has long been widely conceded by anyone familiar with the development of
these Islands that foreign capital and foreign expertise has played an
important role in the dramatic Cayman Islands’ success story.
Undoubtedly, the country’s position on taxation, lack of foreign exchange
controls, as well as its political stability are also factors contributing to
the economic surge of the past 40 years, but the “foreign” factor was
critical.
However, when looking at the country’s economic position in recent years,
it can be noticed that the downside of this evolution is that the top tier of
our tourism industry is often populated by individuals who are not always
naturally inclined to promote the “local thing” because, to be fair to them,
they did not come out of the “local thing.”
The consequence is that there is sometimes an indifference to Caymanian
culture, and, unfortunately, this position at the top filters down throughout
the hospitality industry and has a negative consequence for our tourism
product generally.
One example of this is the disposition among many in the watersports
industry that it is “on the sea” that our tourism magnet and tourism future
lies.
Every knowledgeable assessment of our tourism sector has pointed out the
fallacy of this approach, but it continues to be debated in spite of tourism
surveys that tell us today’s visitor is looking for more than just sun, sea
and sand.
Another example is the almost negligible use made of local craft and local
art in both private and government establishments where the traffic of tourism
is involved. Why, for example, does the departure lounge in Owen Roberts
International Airport display the art of only one artist, and a non-Caymanian
one at that? Whose tourism product are we promoting that way?
We can cite other examples of this myopia, but the point here is that we
need to correct this attitude, by direction and education, in order to ensure
that the Caymanian flavour in our tourism product is strong and clear and
pervasive.
It should be noted that there are foreign investors and foreign managers in
the tourism establishment of other countries in the region, and they have all
come aboard the “local flavour” idea in their territories.
The visitor to Jamaica, wherever he or she stays, gets a distinctly
Jamaican experience; the same is true of Barbados, the Bahamas, St. Lucia,
Cuba and even America, where regional flavours are embraced. Local craft
abounds in these destinations, works of local artists are prominently
displayed, and the indigenous and unique are the prevalent tourism product
criteria.
In this fiercely competitive tourism age, with every Caribbean destination
having to re-assess its product after 9/11, there is work to be done on this
point of making our product as Caymanian, and therefore as unique, as
possible.
Visitors come here for what is unique to us, not for what is duplicated in
Cozumel or Ocho Rios or Aruba. Local craft, prominently displayed and
attractively priced, is big business in other Caribbean destinations. Why is
it so conspicuously missing here?
Government must take the lead by including the local flavour in all of the
tourism manifestations under its control, and, more critically, by actively
pressuring the private sector to do likewise.
Ultimately, if experience is any teacher, the private sector will be happy
for the push because of the financial returns they will see.
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