EDITORIAL
Entertainment sector under fire
Monday, August 29, 2005
Next month the Liquor Licensing Board will review the licences around the
Islands as owners and managers apply for renewal. This year all of George
Town’s late night music clubs’ licenses are under scrutiny as complaints have
been lodged against most of them.
If these complaints are realised and these clubs are closed or the
operations impeded the implications for the tourism sector could be serious.
Tourism is one of the major arms of our economy and developing the product
means a certain amount of sacrifice common to every tourist destination.
In order to attract tourists we have to give them what they want and like
it or not when people come to the Caribbean on vacation they expect to boogie,
into the wee small hours. They expect to drink Pina Colada from a coconut
under a star lit sky while strolling on a beach listening to the rhythms of
calypso and reggae.
The Cayman Islands is a high-end tourist destination and it is different
not least because of its affluence, from other Caribbean destinations, but if
we are serious about developing brand Cayman we have to be realistic. We must
stop wishing for tourists who come merely to dive and return to their hotel
rooms and condos at sundown and stay there and be quiet.
On a regular basis Cayman Net News receives letters and comments
through the on-line forum for tourists who although often praise the Islands
for a number of things are often very disappointed by the limited
entertainment offered at night.
Unfortunately our problems over late night entertainment are a result of
the Islands’ historical development.
In many other seafront destinations, the entertainment areas, where bars,
restaurants, clubs and other tourist attractions are centred are usually
planned around a stretch of beach where there is access.
Lounges and bars overlook the ocean, which is a big tourist draw and the
tourist accommodation and oceanfront residential areas are set back
overlooking the ocean from across a main promenade area or street rather than
right smack on the beach itself.
However historically in Cayman, real estate developers sold off beach front
lots piecemeal for condominiums and apartments which has led to the creation
of exclusive, expensive developments on the ocean front denying access to the
prime beach spots for people as well as the development of restaurants and
bars.
This lack of access to the beach is another well-aired complaint from many
tourists and explains why our bars and clubs are found very close to exclusive
residential condos, where many of the complaints about the noise and the
clubs’ clientele are coming from.
In some cases the complaints may be justified, however reports suggest that
some are coming from wealthy non-resident condo owners who are on Island a few
times a year and when they get here they want the silent, tranquil
exclusivity, which is what they believe they were sold.
A conflict of interest is now rising between those people who own
residential condos on Seven Mile Beach and the places of entertainment because
of a historical lack of planning and zoning.
In the past too – board decisions to renew licences have been based on the
law and it is that which needs to be modernised.
We now need to ensure that we have sensible noise abatement laws where
complaints can be measured properly and either founded or not.
It would be detrimental to the Islands as a whole if complaints from
wealthy non-resident property owners were allowed to dictate the entertainment
that all tourists can expect.
With already limited access to the best spots, visitors do expect a certain
amount of entertainment when on vacation, especially in the Caribbean and we
should be careful that our conservatism which may be seen as one unique
selling point, does not interfere with the tourist product overall
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