Cayman’s dive industry fights to stay afloat

[Lostdiver71]

I am hoping to visit Grand Cayman in 2020 for the first time. Unfortunately if vaccinations are required I will not be able to, as I am in the group that is more at risk from the vaccination than Covid due to severe allergies to some of the ingredients in the vaccinations. If so I will have to wait until 2021.

 

[KathyV]

I admire the strong effort the Caymans is making to fight COVID (except that lack of negative screening prior to flying in seems odd). On other hand hand, I read trip reports from divers going to Cozumel for good times (and spending money there)...while Cayman tourism you not is very much teetering on the brink.

In your post in the other thread, you mentioned the UK has no formal plans to issue 'immunity passports' to people who get immunized (which may not include kids or pregnant women for awhile). I wonder whether other islands will, and to what extent more rigorous restrictions might put the Caymans at a 'tourist draw disadvantage?'

Got a feeling 2021's going to be an interesting year.

Follow up question. In the U.S., taking a 1-week traveling vacation is pretty standard. One of the advantages of some European nations over the U.S. is the widespread requirement for annual vacation time (e.g.: 4 weeks), and that Europeans sometimes take longer vacations. Any idea how many tourists to the Caymans stay longer than a week? I'm thinking you get a number of people who aren't Americans; what about them? People can tolerate more hassles for a longer vacation once settled in.

Here's what I worry about. As this drags on, unemployment will rise, along with civil unrest and crime rates. I'm an expat, I can always go home to Florida. Unemployed native Caymanians don't have that luxury. Cayman will lose its competitive edge in the market as a result. Cayman is known as a safe, clean, luxury destination, and this reputation will gradually falter. Investors will lose confidence investing in business and properly and it will start a downward spiral.

CITA, and other organizations like Reopen Cayman have been cast in a negative light currently. Every time one of our press releases goes out, comments on social media are usually negative - here's some rich business owners trying to get more rich. Marc Langevin, GM of the Ritz and President of CITA gets it the worst. What people fail to realize is Mr Langevin is less concerned about his own personal wealth - he will continue to eat dinner every night - and more for the welfare of his recently laid off housekeepers and grounds crew, servers, and other low-wage employees who live paycheck to paycheck, and now have nothing.

We've been looking at data from Aruba, Bermuda, St Lucia, Turks and Caicos, Barbados, USVI, Bahamas, St Kitts, Anguilla, and the BVI. All of these islands are open, and all of them (with the exception of the Bahamas, who have made some serious mistakes) are keeping the issue relatively in hand. USVI is actually doing quite well, with over 5000 air arrivals weekly and 70% occupancy. The A Safe & Measured Reopening For The Cayman Islands | Reopen Cayman site has some insight into what some of the phased opening proposals are. Understand I've seen quite a bit of data over the last month, some of it is not for public release, and much of it changes on a daily basis, so I have to be careful what I post publicly.

Bermuda is a good example to look at. They've had an uprising in community spread cases lately. However it's very important to note that Bermuda has 2 different protocols for air arrivals - one for visitors and one for returning residents, which is far more lax and does not require a pre-arrival test. According to the data we've been provided, the community outbreak has been contact traced to returning residents who did not honor their isolation/quarantine protocols. There have been no instances we are aware of, of community transmission from visitors arriving to Bermuda. As Cayman allows returning residents, the vary same outbreak could just as easily occur here.

Cayman is already at a disadvantage. People wish to travel, and they are traveling. Our inbox is full of "is the border open" emails. If they cannot come to Cayman, they will (and are) going elsewhere. Customers who were loyal to Cayman, are discovering other islands are safe and clean, and we are slowly losing brand loyalty.




I don't have figures on how many stay longer than a week. I don't have my DOT report handy, and I'm not sure it even says in any case. Certainly some do. We have folks like Mike on this board, who in a normal world, stay here 6 months of the year. We have lots of business people who will stay here, sometimes for months on end, and dive between their business days. We have fractional condo owners who will stay here for the duration of their time slot - sometimes 6-8 weeks per year. However the vast majority tend to dome down for a week at a time. Due to our proximity and direct flights to places like South Florida, Houston, Atlanta, and even the Northeast US, some people just come for long weekends.

I can tell you though, about 85% of tourists here are from the United States, with about 7% Canadian. European countries are a very small part of our tourism demographic, so the long stays from these travelers is certainly in the minority.

Tony

Thanks @Divetech Cayman for the sobering, but well written summary of what is going on.

Most of the Covid cases in Cayman have been on Grand Cayman but just recently 2 people flew directly from Miami to Brac and were tested upon arrival and found to be positive for Coronavirus 19 Covid; they are now quarantining on Brac. Four other individuals that arrived on Grand Cayman around the same time were also found to be positive on arrival and are in quarantine.

I don't understand why these individuals weren't required to be tested before they ever got on their planes; that would have prevented them from arriving in Cayman. Perhaps the Cayman government doesn't trust outside testing agencies and that's fine, they can retest people after the arrive if they wish, but pre-testing could prevent a lot of problems IMO.

Six new COVID cases include two on Cayman Brac - Cayman Islands Headline News

 

[Calmseas]

Here's what I worry about. As this drags on, unemployment will rise, along with civil unrest and crime rates. I'm an expat, I can always go home to Florida. Unemployed native Caymanians don't have that luxury. Cayman will lose its competitive edge in the market as a result. Cayman is known as a safe, clean, luxury destination, and this reputation will gradually falter. Investors will lose confidence investing in business and properly and it will start a downward spiral.

CITA, and other organizations like Reopen Cayman have been cast in a negative light currently. Every time one of our press releases goes out, comments on social media are usually negative - here's some rich business owners trying to get more rich. Marc Langevin, GM of the Ritz and President of CITA gets it the worst. What people fail to realize is Mr Langevin is less concerned about his own personal wealth - he will continue to eat dinner every night - and more for the welfare of his recently laid off housekeepers and grounds crew, servers, and other low-wage employees who live paycheck to paycheck, and now have nothing.

We've been looking at data from Aruba, Bermuda, St Lucia, Turks and Caicos, Barbados, USVI, Bahamas, St Kitts, Anguilla, and the BVI. All of these islands are open, and all of them (with the exception of the Bahamas, who have made some serious mistakes) are keeping the issue relatively in hand. USVI is actually doing quite well, with over 5000 air arrivals weekly and 70% occupancy. The A Safe & Measured Reopening For The Cayman Islands | Reopen Cayman site has some insight into what some of the phased opening proposals are. Understand I've seen quite a bit of data over the last month, some of it is not for public release, and much of it changes on a daily basis, so I have to be careful what I post publicly.

Bermuda is a good example to look at. They've had an uprising in community spread cases lately. However it's very important to note that Bermuda has 2 different protocols for air arrivals - one for visitors and one for returning residents, which is far more lax and does not require a pre-arrival test. According to the data we've been provided, the community outbreak has been contact traced to returning residents who did not honor their isolation/quarantine protocols. There have been no instances we are aware of, of community transmission from visitors arriving to Bermuda. As Cayman allows returning residents, the vary same outbreak could just as easily occur here.

Cayman is already at a disadvantage. People wish to travel, and they are traveling. Our inbox is full of "is the border open" emails. If they cannot come to Cayman, they will (and are) going elsewhere. Customers who were loyal to Cayman, are discovering other islands are safe and clean, and we are slowly losing brand loyalty.




I don't have figures on how many stay longer than a week. I don't have my DOT report handy, and I'm not sure it even says in any case. Certainly some do. We have folks like Mike on this board, who in a normal world, stay here 6 months of the year. We have lots of business people who will stay here, sometimes for months on end, and dive between their business days. We have fractional condo owners who will stay here for the duration of their time slot - sometimes 6-8 weeks per year. However the vast majority tend to dome down for a week at a time. Due to our proximity and direct flights to places like South Florida, Houston, Atlanta, and even the Northeast US, some people just come for long weekends.

I can tell you though, about 85% of tourists here are from the United States, with about 7% Canadian. European countries are a very small part of our tourism demographic, so the long stays from these travelers is certainly in the minority.

Tony

Thanks for the information. I have been watching Cayman as I love it there and enjoy the things you mentioned (safe, clean, short trip from US etc). I haven't been to many other islands in the Caribbean yet, and frankly, without COVID, I probably never would have gone anywhere but Cayman. I am a creature of habit. As I age into my early retirement years I had considered the possibility of buying a place there in the next ten years should funds allow it.

Due to Covid and what I anticipate will be more difficult travel restrictions in Cayman than most places, I plan to start branching out to other islands to see if I can find one I enjoyed as much as Cayman. From what I am reading even after the vaccine Cayman plans to require a negative test on arrival, another test 5 days after you are on island and a third test after ten days on island. That right there will be motivation enough for me to look other places when they open back up.

I hope the folks there stay well and businesses can survive and maybe I will be back in 2022 or later but now its time to look at other islands.

 

[Calmseas]

Not to beat a dead horse on this but I was looking through the Cayman news again today and apparently a young girl, (age 18) broke quarantine awhile back to attend a jet ski competition for her boyfriend. She broke off the ankle bracelet they use to track people while in quarantine.

She was found guilty of violating the rules and they were both sentenced to 40 hours community service and $1,000 fine. The prosecutors are appealing as the max sentence is 2 years in jail and 10K fine. That seems harsh but so be it, it's their country and can make up their own laws. The thing concerning to me is the comments section of the article as some really angry folks saying to throw the book at them, stick it to them etc. Not the spirit I saw when I was in Grand Cayman.

Trying times.

 

[KathyV]

Not to beat a dead horse on this but I was looking through the Cayman news again today and apparently a young girl, (age 18) broke quarantine awhile back to attend a jet ski competition for her boyfriend. She broke off the ankle bracelet they use to track people while in quarantine.

She was found guilty of violating the rules and they were both sentenced to 40 hours community service and $1,000 fine. The prosecutors are appealing as the max sentence is 2 years in jail and 10K fine. That seems harsh but so be it, it's their country and can make up their own laws. The thing concerning to me is the comments section of the article as some really angry folks saying to throw the book at them, stick it to them etc. Not the spirit I saw when I was in Grand Cayman.

Trying times.

I've noticed the nastiness also and it is a bit troubling. Of course, there will always be naysayers and spiteful people that enjoy bad news and forecasting doom, but that article about the 2 new Covid cases on Cayman Brac also brought out some snide and unnecessary comments like "The Brac has been wanting equality for some time."

And I saw the same thing for the article about Cayman business leaders that (rightly or wrongly) are trying to propose methods to safely Reopen Cayman. There were a lot of comments indicating that these are just rich and greedy people trying to make more money, but as Tony at @Divetech Cayman said above (as I understood it) no one seems to believe that their goals may also include helping their employees, serving their customers, saving their industry, and supporting the local economy during a crisis.

These are tough times for a lot of people all around the world and it was also a bad year for storms in the Caribbean. I think that a lot of things will change and none of us may ever be quite the same as we were before, but I hope that our beloved Cayman makes it through okay.

 

[scubadada]

I've noticed the nastiness also and it is a bit troubling. Of course, there will always be naysayers and spiteful people that enjoy bad news and forecasting doom, but that article about the 2 new Covid cases on Cayman Brac also brought out some snide and unnecessary comments like "The Brac has been wanting equality for some time."

And I saw the same thing for the article about Cayman business leaders that (rightly or wrongly) are trying to propose methods for to safely Reopen Cayman. There were a lot of comments indicating that these are just rich and greedy people trying to make more money, but as Tony at @Divetech Cayman said above, no one seems to believe that their goals may include helping their employees, serving their customers, saving their industry, and supporting the local economy.

These are tough times for a lot of people all around the world and it was a bad year for storms in the Caribbean, too. I think that a lot of things will change and none of us may ever be quite the same as we were before, but I hope that our beloved Cayman makes it through okay.

I was disappointed, and surprised, that the proposal to offer Cobalt Coast, Cayman Brac Beach Resort, and Little Cayman Beach Resort as Covid bubbles was rejected. I thought the Cayman Aggressor could have also qualified, perhaps even Compass Point/Ocean Frontiers if they could do the meals.

We will all have to wait, patiently

 

[mi000ke]

I think you have to respect the citizens and residents of Cayman Islands wanting to preserve the extensive and successful control the country has maintained over the spread of the virus. Yes, it's hurting the economy, but taking essentially the opposite stance as the US has done, has resulted in the tragedy of 300,000 deaths and counting. The Premier has said over and over that the physical health and well-being of the residents here was the number one priority. Most of the people I know who can afford it (i.e., most of the expat business community and the local large businesses) are doing a lot to contribute by spending more than usual for restaurants, boat diving, renovations, etc. and most importantly charitable contributions.

With vaccines beginning to be distributed, the government is planning to open the island to vaccinated visitors around March, once a significant portion of the Cayman population as been vaccinated to create herd immunity. Yes, visitors will have to be tested, but so far that process here has been fast and easy (and free). All of this sounds pretty reasonable to me.

Regarding the online comments, sure there are a few locals that post nasty comments, and that's been true over the years regardless of the topic. But I have to say I have never been to a place where the majority of the people have been as polite and kind. I've always felt that there is a strong community spirit here. When the mask mandate came out, everyone here wore masks to protect the community. Not so in large parts of the US. The folks who have breached the quarantine here were "outsiders." The locals are understandably angry. So am I.

Don't give up on the Caymans. The beaches are still beautiful. The people friendly. The food tasty. The diving great. And you will not have to worry about COVID.

 

[howswedeofme]

I think you have to respect the citizens and residents of Cayman Islands wanting to preserve the extensive and successful control the country has maintained over the spread of the virus. Yes, it's hurting the economy, but taking essentially the opposite stance as the US has done, has resulted in the tragedy of 300,000 deaths and counting. The Premier has said over and over that the physical health and well-being of the residents here was the number one priority. Most of the people I know who can afford it (i.e., most of the expat business community and the local large businesses) are doing a lot to contribute by spending more than usual for restaurants, boat diving, renovations, etc. and most importantly charitable contributions.

With vaccines beginning to be distributed, the government is planning to open the island to vaccinated visitors around March, once a significant portion of the Cayman population as been vaccinated to create herd immunity. Yes, visitors will have to be tested, but so far that process here has been fast and easy (and free). All of this sounds pretty reasonable to me.

Regarding the online comments, sure there are a few locals that post nasty comments, and that's been true over the years regardless of the topic. But I have to say I have never been to a place where the majority of the people have been as polite and kind. I've always felt that there is a strong community spirit here. When the mask mandate came out, everyone here wore masks to protect the community. Not so in large parts of the US. The folks who have breached the quarantine here were "outsiders." The locals are understandably angry. So am I.

Don't give up on the Caymans. The beaches are still beautiful. The people friendly. The food tasty. The diving great. And you will not have to worry about COVID.

My husband just looked up flights for the fall earlier today. We can't wait to get back. And I will definitely spend way more money on restaurants/excursions than we usually do (we do a lot of shore diving and cooking at a rental condo).

 

[Divetech Cayman]

I think you have to respect the citizens and residents of Cayman Islands wanting to preserve the extensive and successful control the country has maintained over the spread of the virus. Yes, it's hurting the economy, but taking essentially the opposite stance as the US has done, has resulted in the tragedy of 300,000 deaths and counting. The Premier has said over and over that the physical health and well-being of the residents here was the number one priority. Most of the people I know who can afford it (i.e., most of the expat business community and the local large businesses) are doing a lot to contribute by spending more than usual for restaurants, boat diving, renovations, etc. and most importantly charitable contributions.

With vaccines beginning to be distributed, the government is planning to open the island to vaccinated visitors around March, once a significant portion of the Cayman population as been vaccinated to create herd immunity. Yes, visitors will have to be tested, but so far that process here has been fast and easy (and free). All of this sounds pretty reasonable to me.

As I've said before, the way government handled the pandemic initially was good. They got immediate control of the problem and mitigated needless loss of life. Well done. However at this point, decisions are being made by fear, and not by data. We don't need to keep the borders shut, and we are doing harm to the economic infrastructure that will take a very long time to repair and affect the overall tourism product for years to come.

A border opening doesn't have to be unsafe. Other destinations are doing it very safely. This is a slide from a presentation Dr Michael Tibbetts gave on the topic recently:

For every 10,000 visitors, the risk of death of someone in the community from COVID-19 is one in 111,111. In the last 4 months in the Cayman Islands, we've had 5 deaths from traffic accidents. We can save more lives if we opened the borders in a controlled fashion, and spent more time on traffic enforcement. Risks are far greater to the Cayman community from alcohol abuse, suicide and violent crime than from COVID-19 with the proposed reopening protocol.

The vaccine is not the magic bullet. As you've likely seen, not everyone will accept a vaccine. As I've posted before, there's many unknowns with the vaccine.

Now the downside to not opening is closed businesses. Ron Hargrave has just permanently closed Taco Cantina and Eagle Ray's on the east side, and is trying to sell the businesses. Eagle Rays is resort restaurant for Compass Point, so that affect their tourism product. That's just one example. You can't just flip the switch and start a new restaurant overnight. Even processing work permits takes months for new employees, and is extremely costly. The cheapest work permits are $2,600 CI annually, so to get a staff of 10 workers, you're looking at $26,000 CI before you can even turn on the lights.

Grand Cayman isn't a terribly pretty island. It doesn't have lush mountains or waterfalls. Diving aside (which is less than 4% of the visitors in a normal year,) what makes the Cayman Islands are the restaurants and nightlife, coupled with the upscale safe atmosphere. When we lose that, we are in serious trouble.

Tony

 

[caydiver]

One of the issues that must be looked at is that this country is not dependent on dive tourism or even tourism to stay a float. So the many sectors that are actually holding their own are against the possibility of doing what is necessary for this sector to survive if it is to the detriment of all the others. Tourism as whole is a big part of the economy but sadly not so much dive. Decades ago when we started visiting, the dive industry was booming. In fact they supported other areas in the Watersports industry. Diving has been slowly falling off for years. Pricing is higher than other locales, but ops are hampered by the high costs of doing business. Guests complain about the prices and regulations and those who are interested in dive vacations can get more bang for their buck in other places. As other sectors have grown such as financial industry cost of living have gone up. Gone are the beach dive bars as they the value of the real estate skyrocketed and many were happy to take the money and run. The number of ops has grown while the number of tourists coming on a dive centric holiday have gone down. We have seen the changes over the last 20 plus years and the way things for the industry have been heading. Yes it is very sad but even for those in the industry there must be a realization that while the Covid pandemic gave a massive sucker punch, that specific part of the tourism industry needed to change. The number of folks doing DSDs over skill courses has skyrocketed. That alone doesn’t pay the bills. Instead of filling boats (where the money is made) you get the one shot wonders. Now if we could get them excited enough to really embrace diving, maybe we could have hope. Sadly with ideas like the Bubble, there was not support from Government because it could have exposed other sectors that are not in dire straights and actually bring in more and more revenue as time goes by. In a sad way it is evolution and survival of the fittest.