(Left to right) Minister of Tourism Hon Charles Clifford, Knight Frank International
Partner Paddy Dring and Don McDougall, Regional Manager Europe with the Cayman
Islands Department of Tourism, stand in front of the Cayman Islands Heritage
Garden at the prestigious Chelsea Flower Show in the UK. While missing the
impounded wild banana and ghost orchids, the display still impressed with its silver
thatch palm, half-size catboat and model of a traditional Cayman cottage. The show
ran from 20-24 May.

The Department of Tourism (DoT) has labelled last week’s Chelsea Flower Show in London as a major success story for the Cayman Islands. The destination exhibited at the show for the first time.

The Heritage Garden, created by the Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park in association with Newington Nurseries, was awarded a silver medal by the judges and proved to be one of the Flower Show’s major attractions for both media and visitors. 

Don McDougall, the Department of Tourism’s regional manager, Europe said: “Everyone in the Cayman Islands should be extraordinarily proud of the country’s achievements here this year. We know that it is highly unusual for a first-time exhibit to be awarded a top award, but above and beyond that accolade, the profile and publicity has been second to none.”

He added: “The demographics of visitors to the Chelsea Flower Show are a perfect match with Cayman’s target visitor – we even had one lady coming to our garden to tell us that she loves the Cayman Islands so much that she has visited 13 times.”

The Independent newspaper selected the Heritage Garden as one of just six in their feature entitled ‘Pick of the Bunch’. The Telegraph newspaper, with a circulation of over 1 million, chose the Cayman Islands’ garden as one of just three featured in their Chelsea Flower Show’s special supplement on small gardens.

“With the total media coverage across national print media, online, national radio and television throughout the week, not to mention regionally, I think it is probably fair to say that the Cayman Islands’ Heritage Garden took the lion’s share of the coverage for any one individual garden,” he said.

“We cannot even begin to put a value on the positive publicity we received, although a full report will be made available shortly.”

Last week, the UK’s top celebrity gardener and author Alan Titchmarsh recorded further commentary from the Heritage Garden for the BBC’s coverage. This was broadcast on prime time television, making it at least the fourth major television appearance by the Cayman Islands’ garden broadcast.
Minister of Tourism Hon Charles Clifford was interviewed shortly after he was filmed meeting Her Majesty the Queen last Monday. Footage and still photography are being made available for use after the show.

“It really only remains for me to thank wholeheartedly everyone who made this Show happen. Andrew Guthrie and his team from the Botanic Park of course, along with Stephen Hendry of Newington Nurseries in the UK who helped him to create such a stunning exhibit; the Cayman Catboat Association; the Tourism Attraction Board; Department of Environment; IRG Knight Frank, Camana Bay and Maples & Calder for their generosity in sponsoring our garden; British Airways for assistance with transportation, and finally all the volunteers and employees of the Department of Tourism for their tireless work and enthusiasm, in sometimes very difficult circumstances, in pulling the entire project together in less than five months,” Mr Dougall said.