West Bayers call for Caymanianization of tourism

| 15/03/2018 | 170 Comments
Cayman Islands tourism, Cayman News Service

Owen Roberts International Airport

(CNS): The people of West Bay have made it very clear to Tourism Minister Moses Kirkconnell that they believe the key to a successful national tourism plan for the Cayman Islands would be to promote and protect locals in the sector and stop the marginalization of Caymanians currently working in the industry. At a busy meeting in the district, where around one hundred people turned out to take part in the public consultation on the shaping of a new five-year plan for the industry, several people pointed to the need to ensure that Caymanian faces were on the front line, stop the proliferation of businesses owned by foreign nationals dominating the sector and Caymanianize tourism to reflect CaymanKind .

Some of the challenges West Bayers working in the industry said they were seeing are: inexperienced boat captains, tourists being chased of beaches, bus drivers with no knowledge of Cayman and hotel concierges who are warning tourists not to use local operators. The absence of local faces, local food, local information and knowledge was, they said, undermining the sector, and until government helped protect and promote Caymanians in tourism, the new plan would be pointless.

One member of the public working in tourism pointed out that the Department of Tourism was “spending millions of dollars of our money” on  promoting the destination but Caymanians were “not getting the business”.

Another member of the community said that he was sick of being looked down on by permit holders working in the water-sports sector who seemed to think Caymanians were just “all dumb locals”, when he said they were committing numerous safety infractions, especially at Stingray City. “Tourism need to be put back in the hands of Caymanians,” said one contributor to warm applause.

People also spoke about the need for the tourism plan to be positioned in a wider national economic plan and that without considering the future of tourism in context with national development, the Cayman Islands’ population would grow unchecked. People said foreign developers were continuing to prosper while locals were struggling to benefit from the growth in the economy or from the successes in tourism.

On a number of occasions, Minister Kirkconnell said he agreed that government would fail if local people were not benefiting from the growth in tourism. He said it was important that people were raising the issues and challenges they face and it was this kind of feedback that the ministry and tourism department were looking for to help shape the plan.

Kirkconnell said that the issue of hotels advising tourists not to use small local operators had been raised in other districts and he said there were some difficulties relating to indemnity insurance. But he also said some establishments were breaking the ‘brochure rack rules’, which obligate hotels to have brochures of local businesses at their receptions.

He said the ministry was aware of that issue and was following up on it. Kirkconnell also said the Department of Tourism was willing to help local operators promote their business, develop or improve websites and get their businesses in front of the visitors.

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  1. Anonymous says:

    One time I got in a taxi in Cayman and a Caymanian was telling me about nobody paying taxes and that they were all rich and they all had elevators in their houses. Straight faced. True baller style….

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    • Anonymous says:

      5.30pm…. sad but thanks to our corrupted Representives everyone here is now “a CAYMANIAN” bet that person that told you that was not A CAYMANIAN”!!! And those S…H…. taxi drivers are constantly putting us down and trying in every way to make us look bad.

  2. Anonymous says:

    So they want to mirror the whole tourist sector on the taxis. What could possibly go wrong? Lol

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  3. Anonymous says:

    My dearest fellow Caymanians,

    Ignore these hypocritical donkeys and their disparaging comments.

    They are nothing but walking, breathing, living contradictions of EVERYTHING their home countries have proven to stand for.

    Think of the current trends as it concerns immigration, employment, race, and nationalism in the western world.

    At the end of the day, they are immigrants bad-mouthing their host country – knowing full well immigrants are generally despised where they come form.

    If we were them we’d likely be insecure and aggressive as well.

    Let us focus on optimising ourselves and work toward a brighter future for our children.

    Lastly, let us never trust the “assistance” and olive branches of these 2-faced cowards.

    (These comments and thumb ratios speak to the true story on the ground.)

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  4. Anonymous says:

    I’ve employed a few Caymanians in the tourism industry and every single one was fired due to multiple reasons that expats would never do.

    Being late, poor work ethic, bad attitude, low quality work. The list could go on.

    If these west bayers complaining want no tourists to ever come back to cayman, then they should remove all the high quality tourist operators and let the west bayers get a 2 out of 5 average tripadvisor rating. No one will return to this island.

    The idea that employers want to spend thousands of dollars on work permits for no reason other than “racism” is absurd. Its almost as absurd as the feminist myth that men get paid more than women for the same work.

    Im caymanian. So don’t tell me I’m some stupid foreigner.

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    • Anonymous says:

      F*** I liked your comment as I was reading and almost up to the feminist myth. You aren’t a stupid foreigner, you’re a dumb man.

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      • Anonymous says:

        You are an ignorant moron who doesn’t understand basic statistics and studies if you think men and women are paid different for the same work. There is a harvard study debunking the gender wage gap. Also, this is all irrelevant to the topic being discussed.

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        • Anonymous says:

          And yet there you are discussing it.

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        • Anonymous says:

          You remind me of SNL. “Jane, you ignorant slut…”

        • Anonymous says:

          Which is why I found it odd you even added it in to your comment. It was like you wanted to throw a jab in at women. I can tell you the myth of unequal pay is all to real and it’s happened to me on this island.

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        • Anonymous says:

          Up there competing for a Darwin award 5.00pm. Nothing to back your arguments so you resort to name calling, as Trump does. #fakenews.

    • Shhhhhhhhhh. says:

      Let me refer you to todays CNS article re. David Morritt’s award of status by cabinet and Parliament. He maintained 80% Caymanian employment at his Morritt’s Tortuga Club resort, consistently!! I frequently was a walk in customer there and I never ever had a poor opinion of the Caymanian employees I encountered. You think about that FACT before you condemn your own people. And back then, the two senior managers were Caymanian, and they never had a problem with their Caymanian staff above the average. I honestly think that Caymanians are often their own worst enemies, as too many are traitors to their own kind.

  5. Just William says:

    I thought Cayman made certain jobs Caymanian only years ago. Is that all washed away now? If so, why not dust it off and start up again with the protected trades – taxi drivers, bus drivers, tourist boat captains and staff, dive masters even, and some hotel trades like sou chefs, reception staff, doormen? Not just the low jobs. There would be a lot of opposition, but at least the tourist experience would be a lot more Caymankind. Whether that’s a good thing or noty I leave to you to judge.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Yeah, cause the taxi system has proven that a caymanian only mindset blows.

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      • Anonymous says:

        Except numerous drivers in the industry are not from Cayman …..

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        • Anonymous says:

          Yes but they have the passport so they are now caymanian. It’s a hard pill to swallow but that’s the truth.

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      • Anonymous says:

        The taxi system has also been taken over by foreigners. At times I have taken I cab from the airport as a visitor just to hear what crap they say about the locals and the country. Most are misinformed and condesending to the local people. Most have never made a decent living until they got here and with absolutely no respect for their hosting country, people and the culture. That goes for most of us from the North also, with our sence of intitlement. Money does not intitle you to anything, but the people of the Cayman Islands are untitled to respect whether you like them or not. It is their home and if you are not happy with that then you should return to your home where your meaningless life exists.

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    • Anonymous says:

      How many Caymanians do you know who have actually trained to be Divemasters?

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      • Anonymous says:

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      • Anonymous says:

        Many, throughout the 1970’s and 1980’s.

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      • Shhhhhhhhhh. says:

        Years ago, in the early days of the dive industry, there were quite a few, but the foreigners who want their buns in the sun for a while, came in and took the jobs for peanuts, living in cheap accommodation, and moving on after they have done all the dive sites, only to be replaced by more of the same. Once again, it is Caymanian businesses insatiable thirst for dirt cheap labour that shuts out the Caymanian who rightly will not work for those wages. This will never change until the Caymanian lawmakers intervene and make it compulsory for certain categories of work to be only done by Caymanians. When will that ever happen?
        Go to The Bahamas and see if you can find a foreign security guard!! You have to start somewhere, and not wait for the silver bullet solution. How much longer?

  6. West bay Premier says:

    Westbayers keep the fire under the pot , you got the Premier talking today and don’t let him give you campaign talk .

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  7. Anonymous says:

    Caymanization? The thing is, Caymanians already own most of the tourist locations and opeations thereon …Kirks are obviously the easiest to identify as they brand their stores Kirk….but there are countless other businesses operated by Caymanians….Dive operations, Bars, Restaurants, until recently Royal Palms (although some will say Dart is Caymanian…fine…but i don’t think he’s planning to put a thatched roof beach bar and some rope-makers on the bridge!!)….Calico’s…Turtle Farm (!!)…Rum Point….if Caymanians won’t sell Cayman as a brand…who is supposed to? Can we blame any of them for chasing the easy money rather than selling something more ‘cultural’…no, of course not…..so what are people really wanting to change? At the end of the day, behind it all, Caymanians actually do own and operate most everything (tourism/development/health/finance)…..it’s just, they’re not the ‘man on the street’ Caymanian…they’re the families that got in first and have done very well….

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  8. Anonymous says:

    Brexit comes to mind, once again.

    This supposed call for a Caymanianization of our tourism industry simply mirrors the sentiment(s) that led to the “Leave” result for the UK.

    However, the very people criticising this and every other pro-Caymanian effort will vehemently defend (and misrepresent) the Brexit referendum – and even the election of U.S. President Trump for that matter (“America first!” / the wall / Muslim ban / Shithole-Country-Gate).

    Once again, we see that in the minds of many, only certain types of people are allowed to be patriotic – despite the stats, claims (e.g. UK business preferences of non-British workers over “lazy, unskilled, and entitled British workers”), and opposing evidence.

    – Whodatis

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    • Anonymous says:

      typical caymanian trait….always looking to point fingers instead of addressing the issue.

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      • Anonymous says:

        Umm…we’ve just seen entire countries (USA & UK) break treaties, exit unions, reverse diplomatic directions, tinker trade tarriffs, and bow to xenophobia …yet you say;

        “typical caymanian trait….always looking to point fingers instead of addressing the issue”.

        (Why don’t Simon and Gemma get off their lazy, unemployed asses in Hull and move a few hundred miles south and find a job?

        Instead, they complain about London-based and thriving Tunde and Vishal that emigrated from halfway around the world, educated themselves and found employment.)

        Hoorah for Brexit, right?!!

        All the West Bayers asked for was a stronger representation of their people in their workforce – really pales in comparison to the aforementioned extremism.

        – Whodatis

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        • Anonymous says:

          Ah the art of deflection….sadly not mastered. Here we are on about Cayman and broken treaties elsewhere, which with the exception of recent US actions is untrue and the usual fakewhonews.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Even grumpier and more inaccurate than usual Who. Police get your ganja supply?

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      • Anonymous says:

        Please outline the inaccuracies of my post.

        Thanks.

        – Whodatis

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        • Anonymous says:

          Same old irrelevant drivel

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          • Anonymous says:

            …and the same old baseless criticisms of totally valid and relevant global context.

            I know it sucks to realise your perspective is based on nothing and, in fact, grossly hypocritical – but you should be more enlightened by now.

            After all, this is why I’m here; to save you and your friends from yourselves. Unfortunately, your relatives and friends back home aren’t so lucky.

            – Who

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            • Anonymous says:

              Keep it coming. Your pompous, self-important, pseudo intellectual flailing is comedy gold!

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              • Anonymous says:

                …yet not hardly as funny as the responses to why Brits voted for Brexit and Americans voted for Trump.

                At the end of it all, my family and I will be just fine in good ol’ Cayman.

                The greatest personal fallout is the occasional online spat with the friends and relatives of escaped turn-coat Brits, Americans, and Europeans with the gall to talk sh*t as a 2-faced immigrant in the Cayman Islands.

                – Who

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                • Anonymous says:

                  Bless

                  • Anonymous says:

                    “Bless” they say … now they’re adopting “Whodatisish”.

                    Well, as the saying goes; mockery is flattery.

                    Anyway, once again, we are to the point of halfway across the page by way of responses, yet not a single valid or meaningful counter to my original post.

                    Says it all really.

                    – Who

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        • Anonymous says:

          A very wise man taught me long ago to never argue with a fool. It is a complete waste of time. You try to twist every argument to your own perceived views, which sadly bare little relevance to reality. You become more like Putin or Trump every day, which if you haven’t noticed, means you have zero credibility.

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  9. StopTheCrime says:

    Literally nothing is stopping local Caymanians from competing to create a better, more enjoyable tourism product or service. NOTHING.

    In a word, they only have to do one thing: COMPETE!

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    • Anonymous says:

      haven’t you heard the local fairytale of evil expats only hiring expats because they would much prefer paying big work permit fees………….zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

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    • Anonymous says:

      Nothing other themselves. It’s so much easier to just cry to the politicians and point blame. That they have down pat.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Or actually do the work!

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    • Anonymous says:

      They also have to show up for work…on time.

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    • Anonymous says:

      You are obviously not a local or you have not been in the Cayman Tourism industry for very long.

      Those of us who have been working in tourism for many years remember the times when 80% of hotel workers were all Caymanians.

      We should have controlled development at that level until the population rose to a point where this ratio could be maintained.

      There is enough factual financial information from those days to prove that with half the population of what we have now after importing 50% of our today labor force on work permits, that the Government and the Caymanian owned private sector were making enough money to sustain the necessary infrastructure etc. for half of the population we now have.

      You obviously are ignorant to the fact that 30 years ago all of the support services and tourism products that you see today, were started, owned and operated by Caymanians who had no problem competing.

      Today we have large Cooperation’s operating these same businesses and setting the rules where only their buddies and foreign interties can compete. It has become impossible for a local to break into the tourism business and secure long term contracts to sustain said business and COMPETE.

      WaYaSay

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    • West bay Premier says:

      @ Stop The Crime , you need to add “Corruption ” to your title , and then Caymanians would be able to compete .
      I disagree that nothing is stopping them . The Government is making and selling too many work permits , that’s what is stopping them .

      I am happy to see that some Caymanians are waking up and smelling the Roses and made the Premier speak about the issue . Westbayers you have to keep the fire under the pot and don’t turn the fire off .

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    • Michael Wilks says:

      Should someone be allowed to come into your home and compete with your kids for dinner this evening? Or is the dinner that you, the head of the house provide to your children be exclusively for them?

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      • Anonymous says:

        Michael, I feel bad for you. That isn’t even remotely the same thing. It’s like saying my cat shouldn’t have to go to the vet because my daughter isn’t 4 yet. The two have nothing to do with each other.

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  10. Anonymous says:

    Well it seems as if every time an article is put on CNS about the plight of Caymanians the comments are many mostly by foreigners putting down Caymanians. This Country is for Caymanians , so please be careful how and what you say about the people of Cayman.

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    • boom says:

      Clearly racism still exists in the 21st.

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      • Anonymous says:

        Not a race…a nationality! Although some see themselves as deities with rights and entitlement to every last thing.

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        • Anonymous says:

          ..everything including US products that my fathers produced and sacrificed greatly in creating…what does cayman produce and export? Dont see many old cayman timers with missing limbs or have developed medical issues from working at a factory…the jungle is timeless.

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    • Anonymous says:

      we won’t be careful about speaking the truth…..

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    • Anonymous says:

      Has it occurred to you that people from some 120 nations live here and a lot of them are pretty bright, and see reality? The fact that you don’t want to hear or listen, and try to defend some pretty hopeless stuff means you are part of the problem. If you read some of the comments from some also pretty bright Caymanians, they understand the same. The truth always hurts and is never pleasant to listen to, but sadly the only way to learn is by seeing that truth. So stop asking foreigners to respect you because you are Caymanian, and start earning that respect.

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      • Michael Wilks says:

        If you knock on a persons door and they open it, who should say good evening first? The person who knocked, or the person who opened the door? Locals shouldn’t have to earn the respect of someone who comes here to live and work, it’s the other way around. you got it twisted my friend.

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        • Anonymous says:

          No, everyone needs to earn respect. You think that people will give respect to someone who sucks teeth at them because they aren’t the same passport holders? I think you are the one who has it twisted. Also, your analogies are really off point and lacking pizzaz.

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        • Anonymous says:

          I’m not sure of that one. Is the door knocker a seller or a buyer?

        • Hancock says:

          What about a knock in the morning? Why say good evening?

    • Anonymous says:

      Get off this nonsense as we all know that without the influx of foreign investors and high grade expatriate workers there would be nothing here. Praise that our great elected officials and senior civil workers know this and we can keep progress going. It is lucky for us we have such dedicated government and a strong premier. He better stay in power.

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      • Anonymous says:

        That strong premier held up PR applications for years. I wouldn’t say his name in the same sentence with keep progress going. I wanted to like your comment SO BAD too.

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      • Anonymous says:

        You are an idiot and your descendants shall suffer greatly. You gave away your country and your culture for the love of money. Sit down and shut up.

  11. the-caymanian says:

    All this complaining is just so counterproductive. We Caymanians have so many privileges. Only Caymanians can start a business (everyone else needs at least 60% Caymanian ownership). So if you all really wanted to benefit from the tourists and compete with the oh-so-evil foreign workers, just start your own business! Stop wasting your time whining and get entrepreneurial. No one’s out to get you, you’re just not trying hard enough.

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    • Anonymous says:

      This has been done over and over and over and over. Then the businesses hire…. expats.
      I have lived here over 16 years before that I was coming here for vacations for about 10. I don’t think I was ever here on holiday, that a local didn’t try to recruit me to come down and work. I was offered jobs after chatting in line at the supermarket! I finally gave in and took a job… I couldn’t resist the pressure any longer, and here I am.

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      • Anonymous says:

        What supermarket did you shop at? I know a few Caymanians who need jobs and don’t know how to look in the classifieds or follow up after handing in a CV.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Amen….

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    • Anonymous says:

      Who is “you all”? are you sure you are a Caymanian? If you are why are you referring to Caymanians as “you all”.

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  12. Anonymous says:

    The door is wide open for any Caymanians that want to earn the tourist dollars. They are already protected and promoted. But they don’t want to work on the boats in the sun doing heavy lifting, or the early starts and late finishes. They want an airconditioned office, a comfy chair, 8 hours of Facebook a day and put the door by one second past 5pm. So don’t sit around complaining that “the government” needs to do something to put those tourist dollars into your pockets, if you want a slice go and earn it yourself.

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  13. Anonymous says:

    I would hire the old-time caymanians, but not the new ones with attitude.

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    • Anonymous says:

      The old time Caymanians should be hiring you ……… not the other way around.

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      • Anonymous says:

        Yup but somehow… they aren’t

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      • Anonymous says:

        You are the reason the young ones are terrible. Goto the playground at UCCI. Yes, our “college” has a playground where students do everything except study. They laugh at everybody, nothing is serious to them, they act like drunken fools(many of them are high and drunk) all day in the playground because idiots like you have trained them to disresepct authority and just hang-out at an learning instituion. UCCI has become a large babysitting factory.

        Not looking good for the upcoming generation when they wont be able to laugh-off how poor and incompetenet they are, working the simplest jobs on the island. Whoever put in their head that they are special and do not require to study hard for a better future must of had some weird death wish for the next generation.

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    • When I arrived in 1968 I found Caymanians to be very hardworking indeed. I recall the ladies working in offices in the day having secondary jobs working in the hospitality business in the evening. Moreover they were well dressed and timely. It was a pleasure to have worked here in those days. Luckily the ladies I work with today are of a similar disposition.

  14. Anonymous says:

    In other words “we want all the money, please step in and take it off the people who are earning it and give it all to us”. Except that there very quickly won’t be any money if they did that and it would never come back because the tourist operators would never trust CIG again. This is what xenophobia looks like amongst the very stupid and uneducated. And for any Caymanians that actually want to go out and earn tourist dollars it couldn’t be made easier for them. They are already protected workers and every employer wants to hire good hardworking locals. But if you go out on the dive boats or into the tourist shops how many do you see? Why is that?

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  15. Anonymous says:

    Give us jobs but please don’t expect us to turn up on time, be polite, conscientious, work late and work hard if required. Oh and I’ll take every other Monday off because I don’t like Mondays. Sweet!

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  16. Anonymous says:

    Oh no please keep. I would not wish him on my worse enemy. He is all yours and Mr, mueller.

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  17. Anonymous says:

    The “Gold Standards” of service cannot be applied by anyone that fails to embrace diversity, or realize/appreciate that in doing so, quality of life is improved for all. If the mindset is not there, the service won’t be either.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Diversity does not equate to quality. Diveristy of opinons that are all high quality themsleves does.If that was not the case, criminals would be in charge…wait?!!!

  18. Anonymous says:

    the most important thing cayman can do is to end the entitlement culture.
    you should not believe you are entilted to a job due to being a caymanian.
    employers should always have the right to employ the best people for the job.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Caymanians are as entitled to a job as expats are entitled to believe that they deserve to be here.

      They can run back home when sh!7 hits the fan, we can’t, ship sinks we go down with it because this is our home.

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      • Anonymous says:

        It ain’t sinking as long as your politicians keep taking money so big D can xxxxxxx you.

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      • Anonymous says:

        Pretty sure as a Caymanian you can always “run” to the UK. So dont try playing that card.

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      • Anonymous says:

        What are the stats on caymaninans that steal US jobsat a higher average income the US citizens? You might not like the answer. And I saw many more caymanians at the airport trying to get out when Ivan struck so dont push you identity politics on use anymore.

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    • Little buddy says:

      Which are Caymanians. How persons who just got of a plane or a canoe sell what is Caymanian?

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  19. Anonymous says:

    yawn…just ask any employer about their experiences of employing locals. truth hurts.

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  20. "Anonymousir" says:

    truth is, it would be real nice to have it be an all Caymanian working force in the tourism sector. Just so, tourist knew what a local Caymanian was and what locals do and what local foods are … However, in the real world, lots of the locals are laid back and wasted. (i say this with no dis-respect) because we live on an island which only recently grew. So lots of people have the islands mentality of being laid back and taking a hard life easy. its now 2018. that mentality does not work anymore and sadly my fellow Cayman people are being left behind because of that mentality. When you turn a laid back island into wall street … you make the locals extinct, because they dont want wall street. THEY WANT back the little island they had, that was once a paradise to be laid back and wasted. Not to be on wall street. (P.S. “sometimes its alright to have nothing to do all day”)

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  21. Anonymous says:

    What a Laugh. The photo in the caption from ORIA has two non-Caymanian’s in it posing as Caymanians as they have brown skin; I laugh ever time I fly in and out. Caymankind is a disgraceful campaign. Suck it up! You sold it and we bought it so stop selling it and we won’t own it. West Bayers need to focus on drug dealers, pedophiles, rapist and gangs!

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  22. Anonymous says:

    Be the best at what you do, and nobody can take that away from you.

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  23. Anonymous says:

    instead of saying “Caymanians” we employed the actual hard working, honest, qualified Caymanians. cause as i see it government full of low class, thieves and disrespectful Caymanians that dont deserve the job and steals time and money from government lol . and yes im a Caymanian myself. 🙂

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  24. Anonymous says:

    Yes indeed, because every stingray lifted out of the water for the so-called “good luck to kiss a stingray” is an expat!
    LOL!! Every picture I have ever seen with a ray being lifted out of the water so that it can squirt water as they gasp, has ALWAYS been a ‘local’ tour operator.
    And I keep wondering when this new ‘good luck’ charm began… What a farce!

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  25. Anonymous says:

    So you and your Xpat friend say!

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  26. Anonymous says:

    I used to work in the diving industry and my colleagues made many disparaging remarks about Caymanians in front of me because I was ‘the good kind’.

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  27. Anonymous says:

    Maybe the moaners working on public beach ..can start moving the hundreds of beach chairs behind the gazebos ..so everyone doesn’t have to suffer the disgusting view everyone else has to when it’s the weekend. Would also be nice to have liability insurance on the water sports industry on public beach???

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    • Anonymous says:

      public beach is a perfect example of caymanian business mindset…..
      forget standards…just grab a quick buck.

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    • Anonymous says:

      I’d even tolerate the beach chairs , but the idiot that shows how great he can “Fly” in his jet ski powered boots , please spare us the show.

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  28. Anonymous says:

    Good concept but this should be based on the premise that there is still something Caymanian left to promote. Seems like the only thing being promoted in the arrivals area at the airport is Camana Bay, Island Companies and the like.

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  29. Caymanian NS divers says:

    Wes Bayers.. Lol what a joke, definitely not the best representation of Caymanians and Cayman Kind (in general that is)
    Go see northsiders, Eastenders, they do a way better job in tourism. Plus they don’t need a passport to come into George Town.
    Regarding boat Captains, how many Caymanians call themselves Capt without a proper license, most of them, now there are at least 5 I know who do have licenses and they are great at their jobs.
    The problem I have found with West Bayers in the industry is that alot of them smoke weed and offer it to their customers. Most of the are drunks. Most of them are just idiots.
    They control all the boats through the CO Op and won’t let anyone else join if not from West Bay,how do I know, I applied and yes I’m Caymanian.

    We need more people from other districts except west bay in the industry, just my opinion…

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  30. Anonymous says:

    I used to work in a telecommunication organization where a tiny Chinese woman, an immigrant, was hired as IT manager, then she became a CFO. In 5 years she became CEO.

    The point is, if you have what it takes to become successful in business, no barriers would prevent you from achieving success and realizing your goals.

    The rise of victimhood culture is alarming. Word to mouth marketing beats any brochure. Be really good at everything you do, take pride of your work and you will succeed.

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  31. Cor Blimey! says:

    Do we really want our service providers in the tourist industry to perform like the Civil Service?. You have to put up with incompetence in Government as there is nowhere else to go, but this is certainly not the case with our toursit visitors.

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    • Anonymous says:

      well said!…as the largest employer of caymanians, the civil service is the perfect representation of the local workforce… and tourists of all people, should not have to suffer it….

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  32. Anonymous says:

    The Victim Mentality.

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  33. Anonymous says:

    Local food falls in the edible category.

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  34. Anonymous says:

    Alden the Destoyer will not Caymanianize anything that will mess with his permit fees. He will however make anyone a Caymanian who threatens to sue.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Yes perhaps they should indicate true Caymanians otherwise Alden will Caymanize it through continued PR grants.

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      • Anonymous says:

        Too late. Full Caymanianisation is now only 5 years away as all the PR holders and their dependents become Caymanian. Well done Alden, well done!

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        • Anonymous says:

          Most of those will have done more for Cayman than write stupid comments on here..what did you do for Cayman?

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        • Anonymous says:

          That’s right all those permanent residents are going to give up financial services and legal jobs and drive taxis and boats lol

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          • Anonymous says:

            They wont becauze the are cash clowns. No more being paid to folks that make the most money for companies anyways not the locals atleast.

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    • Anonymous says:

      If the hotels etc. have to pay the $ 6.oo per hour like everyone else, plus tips, then more Caymanians would would work there. Remember the hotels etc. does Not pay tips, that comes from the guests, so they should have to pay the $ 6. oo per hour. Remember pensions, vacation, holidays etc. are not payed tips.

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      • eyehavenoIdeer says:

        Trump- “American First”
        Crowd – “Yesssss, you are our president”
        Caymanians- “Cayman First”
        Crowd- Are you crazy, locals don’t want to work and they just hate expats, Have you tired to hire a local.

        Why is it a crime in Cayman to be proud to be Caymanian ? So much belonging uncertainty because you are looked down on for even speaking “Caymanian”
        Say what you want but I started to get farther in life work wise when i started speaking like a ” expat “

  35. Anonymous says:

    From my experience in the industry, I drew precisely the opposite conclusion.

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  36. Anonymous says:

    Look for all those issues to be addressed right about…….never.

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  37. Anonymous says:

    How about we start with showing up on time ( including the day after local holidays ) and accepting responsibility for one’s life. Stop scapegoating the world. It’s exhausting.

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    • Anonymous says:

      I had an X pat friend worked water sports, there was a Cayman guy in his crew, the boss told them to do some heavy lifting, Caymanian walked off, told X pat crew “You do it. This is my Island and I don’t have work like that. The man ain’t going to fire me.”

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      • Anonymous says:

        Heard it was the other way around.

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      • Anonymous says:

        Probably a true story, probably not? However not all Caymanians fall into that category. Some genuinely have a hard time competing with the cartels on work permits or have been given PR. Mr. kirkconnell seemed to be amazed by some of the highlighted issues at the meeting. Please sir, this crap has been going on for years with no remedy. Where have you been.? The governments have failed over the years to ensure that our tourism product is caymanised as much as possible, however he cannot do it alone, the tourism department and ministry cannot do it alone. Each one of us who has an interest in our tourism product really need to step up and take back as much as we can. Get educated, get a plan, pool your monies together and work hard every day to carve out your slice of the pie. Mr. Kirkconnell you, your ministry and department really need to support any effort by our people. Rules and regulations must be fair and conducive to assisting the locals who currently work in tourism as well as being attractive enough to draw in our people. Tourism studies should be part of the curriculum of all high schools on the islands and more effort is necessary from students, teachers parents, government as well as tourism related entities to assist local who might be interested. Tourism studies encompasses such a wide array of subjects such as food service, room service, bar tending, hotel front desk and managers, diving, taxi drivers, landscaping etc, etc. there is no end to the opportunities but our people need to be interested. Banking opportunities are disappearing daily, tourism seem to be the big fix. Come on step up before it is too late. Qualify in something then go out and demand your job. A work permit should be turned for each qualified Caymanian, but do not expect to get the job if you don’t have the certificate even though many come on island without any knowledge or experience in some of the jobs they have manage to secure.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Cayman for Caymanians.. we need a politician like Trump here. Say what you want, but at least he looking out for Americans, no matter how unpopular his decisions.

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      • Anonymous says:

        Nah, he is looking out for himself as he always has…millions without healthcare again, fat cats with extra big tax windfalls, he is not looking after America at all. Nor his wife come to that.

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        • "Anonymousir" says:

          trump? looking out for Americans? so why dont all you Americans living in Cayman go home since he has you all in his best interest. He would give you more money right? pay you more right? and take away taxes? BECAUSE TRUMP is looking out for Americans. .. OH Wait! thats the Cayman Islands Gov helping americans here save money and invade taxes. Pretty sure Trump has a bank account in the Cayman Islands. Did you know, Saddam Hussein had a bank account here? along with George W Bush and Bill Clinton, and Osama Bin Hiding? and a lot of other dirty politicians. I wonder who is looking out for “Americans”, surely it has to be TRUMP. Hes like a GOD to americans.

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          • Anonymous says:

            Not really, if you don’t want to pay taxes to Uncle Sam, you have to give up your US passport/Citizenship. That means in our case becoming a Caymanian. Otherwise you are on the hook for life and God help you with trying to “invade” the IRS as you quite interestingly say. That’s how they caught Mr Webb and countless others. Follow the USD trail, and now the Euro trail.

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          • Anonymous says:

            I’m American and Trump is more like a really bad sun burn. Everyone can see it and we just feel bad for how much it must be hurting that person (americans).

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      • Anonymous says:

        As an American, I would like to present you with the gift of lie tellin’ Donnie Trump. He’s all yours.

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      • Anonymous says:

        He is looking out for American business people. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

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