Editorial
If you build it, they will come
Though this past weekend's Celebrate Cayman Technology Expo was wonderfully conceived, planned and produced, the event served as a glaring reminder of the serious lack of a proper venue on Grand Cayman for such happenings.
Anyone attending the event at the Marriott Resort first had to find parking, a difficult task during the high season even without the Tech Expo. Cars clogged the small parking lot and not only spilled into the lots of nearby businesses, but onto the shoulder of West Bay Road itself.
Those people not deterred by the parking
situation then had to brave cramped, narrow aisles between exhibits
that offered very little room through which to walk.
It is a true shame that in spite of the obvious time and effort
put into the event by organizers and exhibitors alike, the Tech
Expo was staged in a room woefully too small for its intended
purpose.
To make matters worse, some of the organizations giving seminars had to make their presentations in the bistro for lack of a better place. Here businesses were touting the latest in technology, and attendees watched and listened from a room designed for food consumption.
The problem lays not so much in the choice of venue by the Expo organizers, but in the fact that Grand Cayman simply does not have a proper facility for such an event. Despite Cayman's status as a world-class financial centre and tourist destination, there is no real convention centre here.
Of course, when the Grand Pavilion Commercial Centre was first built, it was intended to be just that. Unfortunately, Transnational House as it was called when it first opened was an idea ahead of its time. Completed in the early 80's, Grand Cayman could not then sustain such a venture. The new airport had not yet been completed, hospitality service was still inadequate, and the Department of Tourism had yet to commence its aggressive advertising campaign that put the Cayman Islands on the map in most American households.
Things have changed greatly since then. Not only is Grand Cayman now ready for a convention centre, it is the next logical step to furthering tourism here. It is no coincidence that nearly every major tourist destination has one or more convention centres. People who attend conventions, trade shows, expos and the like, want to mix some pleasure with their business.
A well-promoted, modern, multi-use convention centre with multi-media capabilities, ample parking and suitable space could become a major year-round tourism draw. It could easily generate tens of millions of dollars in economic impact annually for the country.
Just as importantly, conventions would introduce
Cayman to vast numbers of professionals and other business people,
who constitute not only the target market of the financial industry,
but also the ideal target market for the tourism industry.
Another important aspect of conventions is that they occur year-round,
so they could help bring visitors here even during the traditionally
slow summer months, especially if good package deals were made
available to the booking organizations.
Besides being a place for conventions and
such, this kind of facility could also provide a much-needed venue
for local events like concerts, job fairs, banquets, Christmas
parties, and yes, even the Technology Expo if it were to happen
again.
In a time when both the Government and the private sector are
searching for ways to increase stay-over tourism, conventions
seem to offer an ideal opportunity, if only the facility existed
to host them.