Community
Tourism Minister Meets ScubaDiving Hall of Famers
At the ISDHOF meet: From left are President of the CaymanTourism Alliance, Mr. Rod McDowall; Director of Tourism, Mrs.Angela Martins; Tourism Minister, Hon. McKeeva Bush; Jean-MichelCousteau; Cathy Church; Permanent Secretary in the Ministry forTourism, Mr. Harding Watler; Paul Tzimoulis; and Lee Selisky.
New Minister for Tourism, the Hon. McKeevaBush, recently met with Board of Directors of the InternationalScuba Diving Hall of Fame (ISDHOF) during the Diving EquipmentMarketing Association (DEMA) show in New Orleans.
The main objective of the breakfast meeting was to introduce MinisterBush to the founding members, during which time he thanked themfor their contributions towards the establishment of the Hallof Fame and the initial activities.
Present at the meet along with the Minister were Permanent Secretaryfor the Ministry of Tourism, Mr. Harding Watler; Director of Tourism,Mrs. Angela Martins; Board Member, Jean-Michel Cousteau - environmentalistand official spokesperson for diving in the Cayman Islands andPresident of Ocean Futures Society; Lee Selisky, President ofthe Historical Diving Society, USA; Paul Tzimoulis, PublisherEmeritus, Peterson Publishing; Cathy Church, Underwater PhotoCentre and Galleries; and Rod McDowall, ex officio member andPresident of the Cayman Tourism Alliance.
Missing from this meeting were John Cronin, ex officio memberDEAM, and Capt. Charles 'Chuckie' Ebanks, ex officio member andPresident of the Cayman National Watersports Operators Association.
Because the group was assembled together in New Orleans for the25th Annual DEMA show, Minister Bush commented that "it wasonly fitting that we meet and progress discussions for the futureof the Hall of Fame."
He said that it was a "wonderful opportunity to documentthe history and accomplishments of the diving industry, but alsoto bring the Cayman Islands to the forefront as we did pioneerrecreational scuba diving back in the 50s."
Minister Bush was keen to hear of each person's commitment tothe growth of the concept and the sustainability of the efforts.Plans are underway for further inductions to the Hall of Fame,as well as exploration of marketing and communications programmesaimed at the preservation of the environment, education and growthof new entries to the sport.