Covid-19 and Cayman travel...

[tkaelin]

Another is to reduce the contribution of the cruise industry in favor of stay-over visitors.

I am with you on this one.

 

[caydiver]

There are some industries that locals haven’t shown a keen interest in. The pay scale in many entry level tourism jobs is low and during the busy weeks the hours are brutal. I remember one year coming for Christmas when our kid was working at Marriott. She did a split shift 17 days in a row. To be totally fair when we lived in NY I remember asking a good friend who had a landscaping company if he was looking for summer workers thinking of my son. He said flat out they really hired foreign workers because they would work the crazy hours for the crapola pay so he didn’t take on locals. After that I started noticing that his company was not the only one who did that. This is not an issue that any one country has a monopoly on, but think it’s a nice sound byte for politicians in many countries.

On the diving front I think we need to be a bit more patient. The Sister Islands had many restrictions lifted and diving was among them. GC is not as far along. Nothing would make me happier than being in a position to hire Caymanian DMs and Instructors when we reopen (we were lucky enough to have one on our boat the past few years) rather than bring in WP holders anyway. It costs less in time and money and we don’t lose them when the term is up. Ops are not going to make money right now especially paying shop people to rent out tanks for shore dives. By 22 June this may be a moot point. Yes everyone wants to get back to work but the bottom line is we need customers and that is going to be months away. All our colleagues in the tourist industry in many countries are suffering. While we all have a personal bone to pick we should remember so do others and theirs is just as important to them.

 

[Joneill]

I think the government's primary goal is figuring out how to resurrect the tourism industry here over the next couple of years, rather than specifically limiting work permits. One of the themes being considered is positioning Cayman as a safe destination (as it was with Zika, for example). Another is to reduce the contribution of the cruise industry in favor of stay-over visitors. I personally support both.

I'm not a cruise ship fan myself (hate them actually) - but the cruise tourists and the stay-over tourists are very different types. I may be wrong, but I don't think the shopping area in downtown George Town and many of the activities/excusion companies would survive without the cruise tourists.

Also a shift to stay-over might lead to over-development and crowding which I started to see in West Bay the last time I was there in November. However, if it stops the new cruise pier, I suppose that would be a good thing for the marine environment, at least.

 

[mi000ke]

I'm not a cruise ship fan myself (hate them actually) - but the cruise tourists and the stay-over tourists are very different types. I may be wrong, but I don't think the shopping area in downtown George Town and many of the activities/excusion companies would survive without the cruise tourists.

Also a shift to stay-over might lead to over-development and crowding which I started to see in West Bay the last time I was there in November. However, if it stops the new cruise pier, I suppose that would be a good thing for the marine environment, at least.

According to the Cayman tourism bureau, cruise passengers account for about 20% of tourism spending, and stay-overs about 80%. On the other hand, the hidden (and some not so hidden) costs to cruise visitors in terms of pollution from cruise ships, and stress on the local infrastructure around the ports and several tourist sites like Stingray City probably outweighs the similar costs of stay-over visitors.

Cruise visitors spend an average of about $115/person per visit. A stay-over party will pay several times that (or way more) per night just for a hotel room or condo. The average stay-over party spends about $3500 during their stay (an average of about 6 days). And that revenue is spread around to more businesses than just the t-shirt and souvenir shops. Most of the stay-over and permanent residents we know patronize a lot of the downtown and port restaurants, so they are really not that vulnerable to a shift away from cruise ships. And none of the cruise passengers are around to eat dinner, which is the big ticket for these restaurants. We eat in town a fair amount, and the restaurants and bars are filled with locals and stay-overs in the evening. I wouldn't mind a few less t-shirt shops.

There is a fair amount of condo/hotel development still going on (unfortunately), but that is being driven by perceived demand rather than the other way around. Up until the virus hit, our stay over population was growing by over 10% per year. I do hope they stop the development push though, as our infrastructure is key to this place continuing to be a desirable location to visit.

 

[aviator8]

Southwest Cancelled my late Sept flights 2 days ago and they have nothing on their schedule to GCM. It appears they have cut the route.

 

[Scoooter961]

Southwest Cancelled my late Sept flights 2 days ago and they have nothing on their schedule to GCM. It appears they have cut the route.

I sure hope they add it back once the country opens. We have 1,500 in credit from cancelled flights...

 

[Calmseas]

Southwest Cancelled my late Sept flights 2 days ago and they have nothing on their schedule to GCM. It appears they have cut the route.

That hits on some of my concern when things get back to normal. If Southwest pulls out, will that make the flights there that much more expensive? Will a 4K trip to the Caymans turn into a 10K trip to the Caymans? Wouldn't blame them for raising prices in response to demand but if so, it may curtail any future visits for me and the family as I will get priced out.

Becoming a more elite place to travel ( it really already is) with fewer people but each person paying more may be better for the island overall. Time will tell.

 

[aviator8]

That hits on some of my concern when things get back to normal. If Southwest pulls out, will that make the flights there that much more expensive? Will a 4K trip to the Caymans turn into a 10K trip to the Caymans? Wouldn't blame them for raising prices in response to demand but if so, it may curtail any future visits for me and the family as I will get priced out.

Becoming a more elite place to travel ( it really already is) with fewer people but each person paying more may be better for the island overall. Time will tell.

I'm not sure what their long term plans are but I sure hope the reinstate this and other routes as demand returns. I am sitting on a boatload of miles and a companion pass. I was flying ATL->FLL->GCM. FLL got a several axed routes including BZE, SJO, GCM, AUA,PLS. I am not sure if they did the same out of other hubs

 

[mi000ke]

The dive shops here are closed, it’s impossible to rent a tank to do a shore dive, and anyway diving is against the law at the moment. But snorkeling is OK. So what if – hypothetically, of course – one were to go snorkeling, but to insure safety the snorkeler responsibly wore a BCD for flotation and also slung a pony just in case any problems were to arise while snorkeling. And hypothetically the snorkeler happened to see something interesting on the reef below and let the air out of the BCD to do a quick free dive down and check it out, but then started to feel uneasy, and for safety started to breathe off the pony just to make it safe to get back to the surface. But what if it took about 20-25 minutes to sort things out before surfacing. That might be within the regulations. Hypothetically of course.

 

[Redfoot]

The dive shops here are closed, it’s impossible to rent a tank to do a shore dive, and anyway diving is against the law at the moment. But snorkeling is OK. So what if – hypothetically, of course – one were to go snorkeling, but to insure safety the snorkeler responsibly wore a BCD for flotation and also slung a pony just in case any problems were to arise while snorkeling. And hypothetically the snorkeler happened to see something interesting on the reef below and let the air out of the BCD to do a quick free dive down and check it out, but then started to feel uneasy, and for safety started to breathe off the pony just to make it safe to get back to the surface. But what if it took about 20-25 minutes to sort things out before surfacing. That might be within the regulations. Hypothetically of course.

Just don't follow the turtles. They will never lead you back to the boat or beach!