GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands, CMC—The Affiliation for Cruise Tourism (ACT) is urging help for the Cayman Islands’ embrace of cruise berthing infrastructure, saying it’s crucial to safeguard the way forward for the cruise tourism trade within the British Abroad Territory.
Caymanians will vote in a referendum on Wednesday. The identical says that the island elects a brand new authorities. Among the many points to be voted upon within the referendum is whether or not or not the Cayman Islands ought to develop cruise berthing infrastructure.
Talking at an ACT-sponsored city corridor assembly, Alexander Gumbs, the chief govt officer of Port St. Maarten Group, strongly inspired Caymanians to embrace cruise berthing infrastructure, noting that fashionable cruise berthing infrastructure is important to positioning Cayman as a marquee vacation spot within the Western Caribbean and securing alternatives for future generations.
“Sure. St. Maarten is ranked primary for crew expenditure. We’re ranked quantity two after we take Panama out of the scores for passenger expenditure. We’ve gained (a) Seatrade Award in 2023. Our buyer expertise scores are one of many highest. We have been (considered one of) the primary international locations to host the most important cruise ships on the planet, 37 sq. miles, half (the scale of) Grand Cayman.
“However my Caribbean folks, guess what? I’ve a (multi) million-dollar funding plan lined up for the following seven years,” Gumbs mentioned, including that this was to make sure that future generations have a possibility of their nation “to take a bit chunk out of that stunning tart that this trade brings to us.”
The cruise tourism trade right here has skilled near 50 p.c passenger arrival declines since 2019. Deputy Premier and Minister of Tourism and Ports Kenneth Bryan mentioned that whereas others dance across the difficulty, he supplied unequivocal help for cruise tourism and the development of piers.
“I help cruise tourism and I help the constructing of cruise piers for our sustainability,” Bryan mentioned, praising the ACT’s braveness in preventing misinformation and underscoring the significance of the second within the historical past of the Cayman Islands.
ACT govt program supervisor Ellio Solomon instructed the assembly “that our cruise clients deserve the identical service as these approaching a aircraft.”
Solomon outlined how correct infrastructure would eradicate the necessity for anchoring and working thrusters for hours, improve the shopper expertise, and permit guests to spend extra money and time on the island.
“We’re not doing one thing that we consider is mistaken. We’re doing one thing we’re satisfied is correct,” Solomon mentioned, noting that environmental research had confirmed no opposed impression on seashores or the marine ecosystem with fashionable cruise berthing.
“We’re not simply representing ourselves. We’re representing the 40 companies which were misplaced and the three,000 households who rely upon this trade for his or her livelihoods”.
The city corridor assembly additionally addressed frequent issues surrounding financing and possession. ACT representatives defined that fashionable cruise port tasks may be funded by means of passenger charges and that correct oversight ensures native possession and alternative.
They mentioned the opponents’ notion that the federal government will probably be saddled with a whole bunch of hundreds of thousands of {dollars} in debt is categorically false.
Gumbs mentioned {that a} well-developed port operation and a supportive tourism neighborhood helped St. Maarten rebound extra shortly after pure disasters like Hurricane Irma in 2017. He mentioned that hundreds of individuals would have been left unemployed if the cruise trade had not recovered inside three months, a lot quicker than the lodge sector.
