EDITORIAL
It Is Time To Shout About The Treasures Of Cayman
Monday, June 28, 2004
The following editorial was written by a visitor to the Cayman Islands
based on a two-week observance of our country. We here at Cayman Net News felt
the articulate missive corresponded so well with many of the views we have
proffered over the years that it should run in this space.
Like so many visitors to Cayman, the only impressions of the Island that I
managed to glean before I set foot here were taken from glossy magazine shots
in brochures.
Like so many western Europeans, I only had the mental image of Cayman as a
picturesque island worthy of any picture postcard, best known as a financial
centre where many of my compatriots headed to work.
Having now seen the Island in all its glory, I am truly amazed at how
tourist leaders here don’t shout from the rooftops about this gem.
In the UK, Cayman is perceived as mainly a wedding destination, but surely
it should be sold as more than a location for a niche market which is limiting
in its very nature.
There is a big job to be done in the UK, and elsewhere in mainland Europe.
To those with the power and influence in this country, I would tell them to
get out and hard sell the destination.
There’s no point in whispering the news that you MIGHT have the ideal
holiday destination. It’s about time you developed a clear strategy to promote
the destination as truly world class.
In the UK, cities have enjoyed major success in attracting top events
through tried and tested means.
They get the relevant public and private groups together, toss a token
amount into the pot, and then examine the type of events that could put
bottoms on seats.
With their fighting fund in place, they then create an Events management
group which is responsible for raising finance to fund their chosen event.
It’s hardly rocket science, and it has worked a treat in cities such as
Birmingham, Newcastle, and many others, which have attracted new visitors to
new events.
Cayman is simply crying out for an annual world-class event to put it on
the international map. Something to associate with the Island. Something which
fits like a glove and makes people sit up and take notice of what Cayman is
all about.
There’s no point in sitting back, and thinking something will come your
way. Look at the way US cities aggressively bid for conferences, international
sporting events, and anything else that is up for grabs.
Maybe the reason I can see the light is because I don’t know too much about
the peculiarities of Cayman politics. The insular, individual-based politics
which are unique to here, but may be the very reason why the country cannot
see the wood from the trees.
The powers that be need to examine the bigger picture. It’s no good
concentrating on building more hotels and providing extra tourist beds, unless
you provide other things for visitors to do.
When the visitors troop off the ships in their thousands, they are faced
with a limited shopping experience which hardly matches their normal high
street mall.
I spoke to an American visitor the other day who had just stepped off a
luxury liner, and she told me she had “seen” George Town in 20 minutes flat.
If that lady, who was extremely well-travelled, felt like that, she would
have headed back home to her friends and told them the very same.
Cayman is small geographically, but the visitor experience should be more
than duty free shops and eliciting money from dollar-laden tourists. The
friendliness of Caymanians is truly world class. But that can only be a magnet
for so long, unless the structure is also there to highlight the Island’s rich
culture and promote it in a much better way.
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