Plan will ‘catapult’ Cayman back to tourism
(CNS): The tourism ministry’s plan to rebuild the sector will depend on a number of variables, such as persuading high net worth individuals in the United Sates with cabin fever that Cayman is a healthy safe place to visit and investing in re-tooling workers and adapting businesses in the tourism sector. In a new report officials have said that tourism “is resilient” and the plan will “catapult our destination back into the global… tourism market”.
How that will happen remains to be seen, however, as the plan is not specific but outlines some broad goals and ideas. Entitled RB5, The Road Back to 500K Air Arrivals, it was first revealed by Tourism Minister Moses Kirkconnell at Friday’s COVID-19 briefing.
The document talks in vague terms about how the country can rebuild the tourism sector, but warns that recovery from the devastating impact of the closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the catastrophic economic repercussions will take two to three years.
RB5 seeks to reinvent the Cayman Islands tourism industry product by focusing on the priorities of the National Tourism Plan (NTP) and is the roadmap for enhancing the recovery of what was, prior to COVID, a successful tourism product.
The rebuild will depend on the technology of bio-buttons to protect the community from the re-introduction of the virus, and the continued focus on sanitation and COVID-19 control measures developed by the Department of Tourism that “will become a way of life and doing business”.
Alongside the health protocols, testing and technology that will ease the return of guests, the plan will introduce a job placement scheme and continue with education and employment training partnerships to support the retooling and upskilling of local people working in the tourism sector, according to a message from the minister in the document.
The Government Guarantee Initiative (GGT) for tourism businesses will continue to provide business support and financial buoyancy and create a safety net to Caymanian-owned businesses. The Ministry of Tourism said that it will design concessions and offer them to tourism businesses though financial relief programmes.
However, the success of the plan will be heavily dependent on a “robust marketing strategy focusing on an affluent luxury traveller” by promoting Cayman’s success in controlling the coronavirus here and attracting those visitors back to the islands. The hope is that wealthy individuals looking for a vacation will “appreciate the thought and caution placed on health measures” here.
The plan also spoke about creating a Visitor Experience Development Fund (VEDF) aimed at providing a portal to business funding and support tools for success in owning a tourism business.
Officials said this medium-term strategy would be rolled out over the next three to five years and would focus on enhancing the visitor experience and creating more Caymanian owned and run tourism businesses.
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So we are locked down for 4 Months and now we are going to open up to people who refuse to wear masks/fake their coronavirus tests etc and trust they are going to wear bio buttons and everything is going to be ok ?
Morons. Complete morons.
We either open fully or stay closed. This monitoring, testing and tracking people is a recipe for disaster.
No way, no how should we allow any tourists in from the States. We, the people, have sacrificed so much for the lie that life trumps dollars. Now that we can finally relax a bit, the message from government has been inverted. Now dollars Trump life. I do not agree.
We are at a point that we can resume in person schooling. But hey if some rich people want to come here let’s sacrifice our children’s future. So wrong. So sad that our politicians would sell us out for some shiny beads, and short term gain.
Tourism provides 70% of GDP and 75% of the foreign money coming into Cayman. 90% of our food and 100% of fuel must be imported. With no food, petrol, or air conditioning, we won’t “be fine.”
All of Tourism is barely 25% of GDP
96.28% of statistics are completely made up
90% of food supply comes from the US…..wow!
None of this will work is businesses have to wait 8 weeks to clear shipments. I am going to have to lay off staff because shipments that are here, on Island, for weeks, cannot be released. How can I sell products that I do not have?
What kind of anti Caymanian idiots are responsible for this? Disgusting. Disturbing. Dystopian. Really a pandemic and our government is hell bent on destroying businesses with useless bureaucracy? They should all be ashamed
On TripAdvisor, a regular Cayman poster has stated that US planes will not be landing in Cayman until January. Can anyone else verify this information?
Completely agree, customs decided to inspect every item in my shipment taking three hours to do so. One inspecting at the pace of a snail while another kicks back in his chair playing on his phone and a long queue outside the inspection area. These people have absolutely no respect for anyone. We have to wait so long because of inefficiency and they don’t give a toss.
24/7@5:32pm – My jab at 3:17pm wasn’t veiled at all! Quite direct, don’t you think?
Keep our borders closed until the end of the year. This gives us time to really come up with a proper plan to reopen to allow international flights.
In the meantime, we decide how best to open schools in the fall, continue to encourage and provide staycation packages that all can afford, encourage and provide deals for all to shop locally, encourage and provide jobs for all unemployed persons, maintain businesses that kept on workers to be able to continue to keep workers on, continue drives to support funding charities that are helping so many in need and continue to support frontline workers by having them not have to deal with the calamity that will come with reopening way too early when we are not prepared to do so.
We also need to take this time to read a few books on basic customer service, like how to answer the phone. It’s the simple things we often can’t even execute to a 2 star standard, while charging 4 star prices. We need to grow up.
Read……. you understand most do not know how
That’s because most of the workers are Expats from Countries that their first language is not ENGLISH.
Americans don’t want to where mask. What make Moses think we are going to get them to where a Bio buttons. The lawyers rubbing their hands. Breach of peivacy and our constitution. This is brought to you by the government who put a round a bout on the runway. Can’t wait til May to vote this bunch out if they don’t get me killed first by covid 19.
WEAR.!
Still, even Tarzan gets it.
Some Americans do not want to wear masks. Just like some Caymanians do not want to wear masks. Just like I am sure some people all over the world do not want to wear masks. In a lot of places in America, people ARE wearing masks.
I don’t understand the thought process of how, after spending four months whittling down cases to near zero, we are suddenly deciding we need more virus. That’s a special kind of stupid that seems to grow wild on the Brac.
From cancer patient stranded in FL: Please assure us that critical medical patients will still be able to return after treatment once these new rules take effect. This plan is completely unrealistic. There is no way we can get a test right now, much less results within 72 hours.
From the New York Times:
The state of testing: dismal
If you want a coronavirus test in the U.S., be prepared to wait days, even weeks, for the results. As the nation’s outbreak continues to rage, the demand for testing has overwhelmed labs and supply chains, leading to long delays that could be helping the virus spread.
In New York City, 20,000 to 35,000 people have been tested most weekdays recently — far below the target of 50,000 — but even that has strained local labs. Rapid-testing capacity hasn’t ramped up at the state and city levels, and case spikes in the West and the South have deluged national labs.
The delays have limited officials’ ability to quickly identify new cases and perform contact tracing. Quick turnaround times are considered critical for limiting transmission from people who do not show symptoms and may not isolate themselves until they know they have the virus.
But demand for lab capacity is only likely to increase as flu season approaches and universities that bring students to campus rely on plans to test them frequently.
Also contributing to the bottlenecks: strained or dwindling supplies of the machines, containers, chemicals and tools, like plastic pipette tips, used to move liquid between vials.
Testing in the U.S. depends on the state you live in and the commitment of the Governor and his / her use of resources for testing. For example, yesterday in New Jersey my son went to a hospital for a COVID 19 test in the morning and had his negative results in the late afternoon. While in Florida a friend told me he had a test a week ago and still does not have his results a week later.
So much related to testing and tracing depends on the political will of the Governors of individual states. Sadly, in Florida, the Trumpite Governor is dickering around still spending more time fighting with Mayors in Miami, Tampa, Orlando, etc then getting off his ass and dealing directly with the hard public health issues at hand.
I would encourage Cayman not to open up to Americans until they get their act together nationally.
Lol, is Cayman in a position to dictate Americans?
Ah, look at Puggy ! He must be strong, indeed, that’s clear, or he would never bark at an Elephant.
Krylov’s “THE ELEPHANT AND THE PUG-DOG”
Yes, if all the countries of the EU and Canada can dictate to the U.S. we can as a colony of the U.K. Hell, we are living next to the center of the massive health epidemic in Florida.
The rest of the world is rejecting and sadly bewildered at the state of American public health policy and we should too. Keep Americans out of here until America gets its act together. Right now in Florida, Texas, Arizona and Southern California it is total chaos health wise, with no end in sight to it ending.
If places like Florida and Texas don’t get testing and tracking seriously underway soon it will be a long time before they can bring the virus under control. New York State, New Jersey, Michigan, etc have done it right with testing and tracing so Florida and Texas MUST / MUST do the same thing. There are no other options. The alternative is thousands of more deaths in Florida and Texas.
Why do you think NY, NY, and MI “have done it right’?
You seem to be ignoring the death statistics.
NY 32,322 NJ 15,804, MI 6,402 FL 5,930 TX 5,111
Source: New York Times July 27
The irony is, for diseases your local hospital can’t treat, you go to Florida for health care.
Moses talks about “erring on the side of caution” while simultaneously announcing the reopening of tourism from unchecked accelerating infection regions, during the worst global pandemic of several generations. When he says that “no undue risk” will be taken, he implies that there is still risk that is worth taking. I couldn’t disagree more.
The unchecked accelerating rates we need to be concerned about are all in the USA. We do not need to worry about Brazil as we get few tourists from there.
We should open up to Canada and EU countries October 1 but NO / NO to American tourists.
Yet the report lists expected visitors from central and south “Latin America“ as drivers of our recovery.
Yes this particular subject is a tourism issue and it would be his job to have input but I, for one, am not comfortable with him being the lead and primary face of this issue to the public. The Premier is the Premier and in a time like this Alden McLaughlin should be the face, no matter the subject.
Remember, it’s Moses’ purview and in his interest that he’s seen to be “doing something”, especially as he was criticized during most of the lock-down for being out of sight. Also Moses surely has an affinity for the culture where he was raised, which is our biggest market, so there may be a “taint” (can any of us categorically rule that out?) in his eagerness to deploy unproven technology as the backbone of our re-opening.
The “bio-button” application will surely make selective country-restriction redundant and right now – we need to be very, very selective when we open as to how and whom we do!!
Premier McLaughlin, I realize this is a Cabinet decision but you’re looking usurped in this matter!!!
Please don’t use words like “categorically” or “bio-button” or “usurped” in your comments. Our leadership might have trouble with them.
To 24/7 @3:17pm. – no xenophobia or bigotry meant at all from me but your retort was out of line. So, Americans aren’t building barricades (the wall) and there isn’t a high rate of obesity, diabetes and cancer in the USA??? Please go back under your rock!
You just can’t finish your comment without taking a veiled jab at 3:17, can’t you?
I wonder if we can build a catapult big enough to launch Moses states side before he implements this foolhardy plan? We might just test it out first with some of the other MLA heavyweights.
Wait a minute! Has Alden stepped aside from the good progress he’s made with suppression and let Moses start a shit- show??!!
Please ! I jet received a CIG Press Release for the Ministry of DA, Tourism & Transport announcing the phased re-opening of borders Sept. 1 and details of the program.
Seems like we’re the only place in the world using these “bio-buttons” – and ‘American’ innovation (probably out of China – but beside the point). So, if they’re “American” hos come the US is not using them (putting aside their federal lack of doing anything).
Hmmm, could it be that certain of our Cabinet have been “blinded by baffled by brilliance and blinded with bull-shit” so as to be among the “first” to use this” technology”? I wonder if perhaps there may be $ome other kind of motivation for tho$e involved, outside the peoples’ interests?
After Bahamas and Puerto Rico’s actions this week I thought CIG was taking note. Also check Spain, cases rising again. Hope it’s not note$ they’r taking instead. Wise up CIG and take stock of these actions esp relying on the the “bio-button” and people to comply – if the “catapult” happens at all!
I will not step foot in the Cayman Islands with their COVID bio buttons.
That works, thank you!
Bahamas had a poor plan.
10 Day old tests and no test for Bahamians that went to USA for 72 hours.
Even the Bahamian government admitted that it was their own people going out for a day in the USA that made the cases spike.
OMG this is a plan!
I wonder which one of these MLAs went and purchased stock in this “Medical Technology” that is going to track tourists.
Yes people, this is how we need to think.
Government actions are never for our benefit…
Wonder if we’ll end up with those hyped-up Americans that refuse to wear masks.
They would promptly get the assin’ of a life time if they tried that here. They would deserve it too! Spitting on workers, trying to fight workers, peeing on the floors of businesses etc. It is disgusting and atrocious.
Yet there are business owners here in the Cayman Islands not wearing masks in their own stores, and mere millimeters of social distancing in many aisles. We are asking for it. Only lucky it’s not everywhere with ICUs full. Let’s not descend to the level of the recklessly complacent.
Yes, and I don’t set foot in those businesses and tell others who are concerned as I am about them too.
We do not wear masks when there are no customers in the store. Not meaning to be contributing to cases.
While you’re building barricades against COVID-19 and insulting Americans, cancer and diabetes will be the main causes of demise in the Cayman Islands.
Cancer and diabetes aren’t spread through contact.
Obesity and the diabetes that follows does spread by contact (with food). That and distancing (from exercise) are, in fact, major issues in Cayman.
Facts are no match for ignorance. Better to let them think and do as they wish. It will get worked out in the end.
I am an American, and we deserve to be insulted by people for our total mishandling and rejection of science. I am insulting our national leadership too. We have handled thus whole situation like a Third World country. Just look at how EU countries and Canada have handled the situation then look what we have done. I want to 😢.
America is great again! We’re #1. All other are #2 or lower. USA! USA! USA! Where is the bravado now, Yanks?
USA has never been #1 on the health and health insurance front. Life expectancy figures in America have been going down for the past 10 years. The system Is good if you are upper middle class and have health insurance but God help you if you have a pre existing condition or have lost your job and have no health insurance.
USA has so much to learn from the rest of the developed world when it comes to public health and health insurance. Just look at Germany, France, Australia, Canada, all have better health systems if you are just an average Joe or are lower income.
If it makes you feel better, Canada and EU did not do well with the info they had either.
Try searching the document for ‘health of Caymanians’ or ‘health of residents’ – it is not there. We are not relevant to the pursuit of $.
If you think tourists have been waiting in line to come here to be tested endlessly, wear your moronic and stupid monitoring devices and masks, you have a rude awakening waiting for you if you are expecting tourism to be “catapulted”.
I would not start counting your tourist revenues just yet….
If they want to open up the borders for tourists around high season (November), well, don’t you think the plan needs to be put out there and solidified? People make holiday plans well in advance. Will people still be wearing the bio buttons and have to quarantine? That will make a big difference to tourists when planning holiday. Extra costs to a family?
Few sane HNW Americans would pay our 4-5 star nightly rates for 5 of their 7 days vacation in cooped hotel room lockdown, wearing tracking devices, when they can go anywhere else in the 52 states and be free, with activities, natural beauty, etc. Their destination is Hawaii not Cayman. We should let them go for now and not entice them with insincere and troublesome promises.
Most US citizens only take one weeks vacation at a time. So that’s that stupid idea sorted then.
It is Government that wants tourist to come, not many locals are of the same mindset.
It’s one particular luxury hotels owner telling them.
The virus is rampant in India. Their police is brutal. Cayman should have kept Indian nationals not sending them back.
By the way, are there any asylum seeking Cubans still in Grand Cayman? Who feeds them?
The choice was theirs, just as it has been for others “stuck” here.
What does the CIG do when the tourists remove their buttons, or trash them in the ocean/pool/sauna/shower? How aggressively do we arrest and deport our paying visitors? What is the longterm tourism fallout from that? Do we think any visitors will really care about risking arrest or a civil fine in the Cayman Islands, or charring us with a bad review? On day 5, when many Bio-button wearing visitor families sadly report positives for asymptomatic COVID-19, what then? Do we transfer them to a 14 day 2-star facility? How do we safely deport those infected for months? Who flies and crews that plane? How do we avoid the legal firestorms from litigious visitors who are accustomed to suing for sport?
OR….will it be easier to pretend the results were favorable and release them to enjoy their last 2-3 days?
3 guesses everybody on how this inevitably devolves.
Well written. What do we do when the day 5 test shows that 4 people likely got infected on the flight down? Do we just release the rest that were exposed?
This entire plan has more holes than a fishing net.
Or what happens when the tourist gets infected out at the bar in Cayman that has over 300 patrons when it is only supposed to have 50-100?
Yes!! Thank goodness for CNS so that the numpties who read this “blog” get their bums handed to them as we point out the flaws in this plan that someone came up with on their poopy break.
You make out that half the plane would have the virus when they arrive here!
Even a flight from Florida the epicentre only has around a 1.6% chance of having a passenger on it with COVID and thats without pre screening.
As for trashing the button, don’t you think the engineers that designed and made this technology that is not new, make them to withstand this.
Ummm. 1.6% of 120 passengers would be 2 on the plane. They would be sitting in a closed environment with 108 others, and some of them would be exposed, and possibly infected. At least one of them could reasonably be anticipated to sit next to your child’s teacher in a restaurant 5 days later.
You work out what may happen next.
The child will be ok, no evidence to suppose otherwise. But granny won’t be.
Apart from the 9 year old child that died in Florida last week? Right?
Majority of our 204 cases were contact-traced to returning travelers.
Further, it is well-studied that aircraft are prime transmission areas for all kinds of diseases:
“Over a dozen cases of inflight transmission of serious infections have been documented, and air travel can serve as a conduit for the rapid spread of newly emerging infections and pandemics”
https://www.pnas.org/content/115/14/3623
Preliminary research on a London-to-Vietnam flight on March 2 suggests that one passenger likely infected 14 others, 12 of whom were seated nearby.
Or this one from yesterday: Flight attendant dies, 16 of colleagues test positive…
https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/hawaiian-airlines-flight-attendant-covid-19-coronavirus/2401844/
The smart move would be to let them fly home. They may have caught it from you.
Worldwide planes are still flying and there are no cases anywhere attributed to in-flight transmission. Wearing a mask in flight certainly helps as well as the frequent cabin air exchange and Hepa filters on board. As a traveller, coming to Cayman is a privilege and our family will follow whatever rules the Cayman Government requires to keep everyone safe.
There are no reported transmissions reported between children and teachers, but that hasn’t stopped hysterical snowflake parents from making their whining heard.
And FYI, Cayman isn’t trying to encourage ‘visitors’ or ‘travellers’, it’s only interested in high nett worth individuals who can stay longer than a week in a rented home or high end hotel suite.
No money in that, but they do like to dream down here that they are some kind of high end resort location for the super rich. They still don’t recognise that mass tourism by the middle classes is the money earner, and that Cayman is purely a place to hide cash from the IRS by purchasing or building ugly monoliths in concrete.
There are far more attractive places in the world than Cayman, whose only real attribute is what’s under the water, not above. And even that is being destroyed by pollution, over fishing and poaching.
Successive Cayman governments just haven’t woken up to the point that this isn’t the Italian or French Riviera, it isn’t St Barts or the US/UK Virgin Islands. Cayman is a flat, uninspiring rock with little to offer, apart from stingrays and one notable beach. No promenades, no waterside (safe) nightlife, (apart from Cay Bay) none of what makes high nett worth individuals want to get out of their hotel and spend.
My advice, look at a place that doesn’t put greed before service.
…again, this “stash the cash” in Cayman trope…you obviously have NO clue of the international FS industry here in the Cayman Islands and how it operates. Take your John Grisham “research” and go to Delaware with that ill-informed BS…….
Worldwide planes are still flying and there are no cases anywhere attributed to in-flight transmission. Wearing a mask in flight certainly helps as well as the frequent cabin air exchange and Hepa filters on board. As a traveller, coming to Cayman is a privilege and our family will follow whatever rules the Cayman Government requires to keep everyone safe.
Question – if even 1 positive case slips through all the checkpoints and becomes ill to the extent of requiring a ventilator, who foots this bill?
The bill for shutting down the entire domestic economy, and every school and office, or just the bill for the ventilator?
a catapult suggests something quick and powerful….
remember cayman’s national symbol is a turtle…
any tourism recovery will be slow & painful and will take 2-3 years to get back to pre-covid levels…and that is assuming an effective vaccine is available before 2021.
🇬🇸🐢🦎🦟
Good points.
Did you read RB 5? The document shows coloured charty things that go into 2023. But if you didn’t read it, let me save you the time:
Regurgitated information from the newspapers of Canada, Latin America, USA, Britain …
Has the same tone as the ‘Go East Initiative” that was all talk and NO action
Fails to realize the destruction and damage has already been done to Grand Cayman in their new eco fluff
It is pure PR garbage.
for getting off the island…a catapult might be a better option than cal
Look, if there wasn’t a plan we’d all be screaming for one, so at least there’s a plan. Of course, its a delusional plan. And let’s be real here, like all the other plans, it’s not going to see the light of day. So let’s calm down and step back and think for a second as to exactly how f*cked are we, or are we really f*cked at all?
Moses isn’t an epidemiologist. Neither is Dr Lee actually. But these are the cards we have been dealt and they’re going to have to be played.
Tourism – do we need it in the short term? No. Medium to long, yes of course. Will many come to Cayman in the next 6-12 months? No.
So, there will not be masses bringing any virus, but there will be some. And we’re giving them biobuttons that probably won’t work to contain the virus but at least a few of the Ministers and Ken will get richer so thats a positive out of a lot of negatives, for them anyhow.
I like the fact we’re focusing on the wealthy tourists btw, it maybe hints we’re coming away from any chance of mass cruise tourism if that ever becomes a thing again.
CIG are right to refocus and re-brand us as a luxury retreat location. I’ve lost the focus of the point i was going to make.
I do think we need a full clear out of the LA btw. And a ban on any changes to Development and Planning laws until AFTER the election – if the marl road is true, this place is fast about to open up to higher and higher buildings for the benefit of the very few and detriment of the many. That should be stopped and sent to referendum.
How much more do “wealthy” tourists spend in their 5 day Ritz hotel room quarantine than those at Sunshine suites?
Lots.
A lot!
I’d say that’s a valid point. I dont think you could say with certainty that a Ritz guest contributes more to the economy than a sunshine suites guest. In fact, I’d say the average SS guest goes out to local bars more and local businesses are benefited like diving, boat trips etc.
I’m an expat and just stating what I see. I dont see the “high end” tourism as a big savior for the island.
In order for the island to see a big impact is for more local people to work in places like the ritz.
I truly hope we can see and measurable change in the percentage of local people working in hotels on the island and hope the hotels pay them a livable wage.
There have been lots of opportunities for local people to work at the Ritz for many years. One needs to take initiative and be trainable and show up for work exactly on time every day.
And who benefits from spending at the Ritz.? Not Caymanians.
9:15, Who do you think benefits from all the taxes tourists pay when they stay at the Ritz?
It isn’t a “ plan “ – it is an “ idea “. all broad brush strokes but no detail – “ all fur coat and no knickers “
Yes, and it was delusional to think residents would be so stupid as to go on staycations. As it turns out, people are rocking staycations across the island!
Missing them Americans, eh? hahaha
Not one bit.
Wait until your economy starts to shrink. Maybe then will reality knock you on your dumb head.
Surprise: Tourism is at best 25% of GDP…it’s not the main business or employment industry of the Cayman Islands.
The Black List will strike the other pillar. Daddy UK doesn’t have pull with the EU anymore after Brexit. Hahaha. Arrogant fool!
It is so immaterial that the government is desperately trying to bring it back. You are dumb!
Indexmundi.com and economy.com state that tourism makes up 70% of Cayman’s GDP. So does Wikipedia but we can’t put much weight there. Where are you getting “at best 25% of GDP”, smart man? A response is not expected since you are full of it.
Are you suffering from lockdown delusions?
It don’t matter if it’s 99%. We can grow what is left until we are hole agin. And we’ll be healthy.
70% appears to be correct. Your leaders know it.
Check your facts. This is a good place to start:
https://theodora.com/wfbcurrent/cayman_islands/cayman_islands_economy.html
Our economy will be fine, tourism is but a small percentage compared to other sectors.
How can we really miss a very sick people.
I wonder who has the local agency/distributorship for “Bio Buttons”. If this gadget is such a gamesaver what other countries have bought into it?. More like we have too many Bio Buffoons who have been suckered into buying it.
I’m following the money trail. The letter D keeps coming up though.👁
Duh! I would never have guessed that.
I would not bet on it. “D” isn’t stupid to come up with bio-buttons.
They were developed to monitor kidney problems and spare dialysis patients/insurers $1000-2500 per day in what could be unnecessary hospital stays and fees. FDA has approved them for use in monitoring vitals for other problems, but there are a lot of assumptions being made about what that data will show. Even Fitbit and Whoop are making claims about early detection of manifesting symptoms, but as we’ve seen: it doesn’t matter if symptoms are present or not to transfer the disease along asymptomatically. Taking people’s temperature is similarly useless in controlling spread of the disease. It’s not a flu.
Thank you
We are going to be the guinea pig for the Bio Buttons.
As Trump said about taking Lysol or Chlorox “What do you have to lose”. 😝 😝 😝
The Trump cult has now become a death cult.💀💀💀💀
Spend time with your parents and grandparents now.
They may not survive the second wave Government is intent on infecting everyone.
Bio buttons are a joke. One week and everything will need to shut down again – just like every country that had opened back up.
Don’t sea Bermuda shutting down or St Lucia to mention just a few!
You think they are doing swimmingly, as you see it?
Bermuda is testing to 14 days after arrival. This idiotic plan is to stop at 5 days.
Moses/Stran/Rosa, in their “RB5, The Road Back to 500K Air Arrivals” report, ramble on like far-right conservatives trying to appease greed-driven business, focusing on relative mortality of the disease and inferring there is an acceptable commercial death risk, rather than keeping the many unknown complications of the disease, and impacts of a full-blown outbreak out. Predictably, the 62 pages blab on about consumer sentiment using tourism pre-Covid assumptions that no longer apply. Reasonable people already know there is no tourism market for a family of 4 to pace locked in a hotel room for 5 days. I don’t care how much money they have – that would be awful. Do we want to undermine years of positive reviews in the opening weeks? What is the motivation here?
Scheme-wounded Caymanians that will pay for this, should channel their conditioned skepticism into asking how much of CIG’s $500mln open Covid-19 line of credit is being channeled through the VEDF to the multi-Billion Dollar Dart empire, and at what pace? How much of that money will kick back to the Ministers (in the closing minutes of their term) and where is the transparency to ensure that’s not the case?
All of this even while “let’s open” Boris Johnson warns today of a second wave and pandemic stretching into mid-2021.
And you recommendation would be?
Anyone can come, through quarantine.
To what? There is no problem here to solve. There are already emergency mechanisms and protocols for residents to return. I welcome the idea of Biobuttons and home quarantine for them.
*BUT*
There are no tourists beating down our door to quarantine in a tiny suite at the Ritz/Kimpton, where they would need to wear a tracking device, and not leave their room for 5 days. There is no “Ritz prisoner” tourism market that needs urgent filling right now.
Better have a committe to see where that money actually ends up.
1st of all: WTF??!!
What is the main goal here? Well the plan says it over and over – wealthy people, the almighty dollar. To hell with your and my health.
The veil has finally been lifted and Alden, Moses, Joey (CamanaBoy) Hew and the rest of the PPM are showing their true colours. Shame on Roy Barbara, Chris for just going along with this craziness. I expect no less tho from Julie, Dwayne and Tara.
America is worse now than ever with COVID running rampant all over the country, and while everyone else IN THE WORLD is banning American visitors, Alden and Moses and Joey want us to be the petrie dish for american tourism – why??
Even the UK has banned American visitors. We are still a UK Overseas Territory, should that not apply here as well??
Like a previous post says, why not focus on visitors from countries that have the COVID more under control, like perhaps Canada?
The Govt needs to ban American visitors until America can prove that they have COVID virus under control.
And to be clear, I am not anti-American, just anti-COVID.
80% of positives are asymptomatic. 40-60% of general population appears to have hidden immunity which they had long before Covid19 pandemic, according to July 16 BBC article. They are negative for antibodies and positive for specific T cells that target Covid19 proteins. If they develop a vaccine, testing for this specific T cells must be a mandatory prerequisite.
At this point CIG must put tourism on hold and focus on retraining local population, so it would eventually replace mechanics of all sorts, electricians, carpenters who are on work permits.
I don’t know if living in a bubble for a long time is sustainable, quite an experiment is happening here, but to see what happens if you open borders you have to follow what is happening in Alaska. They had few cases until commercial fishing season has opened.
May be Dr.Lee should follow this latest discovery of hidden immunity and see if population could be tested for specific T cells? This would give a better Covid19 immunity picture. At least it looks so right now.
Any virus is smarter than human’s brain. People can’t outsmart it. Masks, bio buttons, vaccines, whatever, the virus will cease to exist when it runs its course.
Mostly agree, but Canada is a really poor example. They are at best only very tenuously “under control” with the projection curve tracking much higher by early November. Travel tourism appetite during global pandemic is near zero, and certainly there’s none for required hotel-room isolation for 5 days. It’s false rationale to apply pre-2020 assumptions, or pretend there are any eager volunteers to spend $600-800/night to quarantine in a 800sq ft room in the Cayman Islands, especially when no such restrictions exist where they are flying in from. We will have near zero compliance – and who’s going to arrest and deport the non-compliant? Given that room isolation doesn’t feed the stingray operators, dolphin center staff, or sell wrist watches…who specifically benefits from a compliance plan? Like with most of Moses ideas, there is only one outcome, and that is failure.
One challenge, among many with Canada, is the market size (population) of Canada at 37.5 million (2019). It is also in the process of reopening and the data isn’t that rosy either. Give it a couple more months to get a clear idea of the trajectory it takes before enticing them to visit- imo.
Agree. Tiny Canada held in the top 10 countries worldwide for deaths until quite recently, now hanging back in 14th position. They were very slow to implement suppression, deficient on equipment, protecting elderly, testing, PPE, and public protocols, and now too early to phase reopening. Where there was provincial hospital data, it was lagging 3-10 days behind, and some of the criteria were adjusted on July 17 to deliberately understate the problem. On July 16 there were 27,601 active cases, and curiously, inexplicably, over 23,460 of those vanished overnight to leave just 4,141. Just as reopening stats began proving to have been too soon in some provinces with contact tracing to US quarancheaters.
It really doesn’t matter who you let in. You will have a second (or first ) wave if you let 10,000 random tourists in. You need to hide out for at least another 6 mos to a year to avoid it.
If you read the RB5 report, you will understand that the Canadian dollar is not healthy right now either. Add an extra 20% on top on the USD conversion and a trip to the richy rich land of the Caymaniac Islands is way off the books.
Also, by and large, Canadians are conservative with our money. We haven’t seen how deep down this COVID iceberg goes. I’ll keep my money and PRIVACY in Canada, thank you.
The bio button is a huge turn off, that I will not be submitting my family to wearing.
Money will be spent on Marketing and BioButtons, but no one would come.
This is what happens when the government hires one of its buddies, a former “AML expert” to advise on the economy. If the “AML expert” had any integrity he’d simply admit Cayman is a wonderful place that tourists will return to without government assistance or the RB5 (consultancy fees). The question is how do we do that safely, medical experts need to make that decision, not the ministry of tourism. Disgraceful.
All will return to normal……after the mandatory vaccine.
when researchers tested blood samples taken years before the pandemic started, they found T cells which were specifically tailored to detect proteins on the surface of Covid-19. This suggests that some people already had a pre-existing degree of resistance against the virus before it ever infected a human. And it appears to be surprisingly prevalent: 40-60% of unexposed individuals had these cells.
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200716-the-people-with-hidden-protection-from-covid-19
Make sure you don’t already have hidden immunity to COVID19 before you vaccinate yourself.
why downvotes? If one only trusts science, this is what scientists tell you right now (read the article). The more you know, the better decisions you can make about protecting yourself and your loved ones from the virus.
My down vote was for misconstruing what the underlying science publication actually said.
If Kirkconnell could possibly stop trying to convince Joe Public that he knows what he is talking about by using “big boys’ “ words and phrases, would he please answer one rather important question.
How will CIG be able to reliably confirm that the US has Covid entirely under control when we consider opening the door to the arrival of any travelers from the USA, whether by sea or air. Desperate to “catapult” the air arrivals back to 500,000, might he not be as diligent as is necessary to prevent importing a new outbreak in Cayman. One thing is for damn sure, the US government, equally anxious to restore business will be just as likely to be “ economical with the truth “ when it comes to providing accurate information.
Exactly. We have cultivated a rule-averse, sneakier than normal, dual-itinerary HNW travel clientele for 30+ years. Those bio-buttons on those people, will simply be reattached to some $6/hr Security guy they pay to sit in their room for 5 days. $240 for 5 days, plus a $60 tip for keeping it low key – same as they would rent a more convenient handicapped person to jump line at Disney World. Many are HNW specifically because they are accustomed to circumventing duty, responsibility, and exploiting loopholes. The rule-averse are also the first segment to bypass justifiable precaution and think about “traveling overseas” during a global pandemic, and they are also the ones that propel new travel-related transfer.
It’s nothing different than the HNW individuals who live on island or, for that matter, any other individual who doesn’t want to conform to rules.
Your poop stinks too, Cayman. Lots of examples of people paying people off.
I thought that vocational schools would be #1 on the recovery plan.
Hahaha you’re funny Bobo.
Wouldn’t that be amazing if this were indeed #1!
Covid-19 doesn’t care if you’re wearing a BioButton while still going to the hotel buffet, pool area, and loud drunk talking at the on-property 3 star restaurant with other family members. We don’t have the resources to supervise, monitor, or intercede with this. The shopper, cleaning, delivery, and security staff are again exposed on the frontline, bringing it back to their homes every night and getting it back out in the community.
Will high net worth individuals be exempt from 5 day isolation?
It’s tourists like you that are not wanted or welcome into our islands. NO, all of you have to go through quarantine.
You think because you have money you can’t get the virus? What a dunce you are. Pay up to come here or shut up and stay out.
9:14 You have been on that island too long, ignorant!
You seriously missed the point here. I would be careful before calling people names in the future.
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.
10:03 I would beg to differ that they did not miss the point, nor did the 9 others who liked their comment.
I think it was more DoT’s weirdly specific focus on HNW, loaded with false inferences that wallet-thickness somehow confers honesty, or more local purchasing power while ordering 5 days of room service from similar in-house cheeseburger menus. It’s probably the least honest and compliant group of the traveller spectrum to focus on…but guess who owns all of those destination properties offering the Grey Poupon Cheeseburgers?
You assume I’m a HNW individual and seem to know a lot about me. Please, tell me more.
Moses? Catapult. Plan. Hmmm?
“… heavily dependent on a “robust marketing strategy focusing on an affluent luxury traveller” = false advertising so mislead travelers.
– hiding the existence of the Dump and its detrimental effect on health
– hiding the risks of Dump Fires
– downplaying major environmental problems one of which is absence of modern waste management system
– downplaying traffic nightmare
The idea that Cayman is a luxury destination is interesting in itself. We have a couple luxury hotels…and everything is expensive as hell but that’s not the same as luxury. Our natural attractions are minimal at best and fading fast. The dump, traffic, and infrastructure problems are a joke. Downtown GT is just a bunch of nonsensical souvenir shops for cruise ships that HNW folks don’t frequent. And the ever-increasing hostility from locals keeps getting worse. You can’t focus on affluent tourists when we can’t even get taxis at the airports to get their $#!t together. It’s going to be a long road and frankly we need to hope folks in the private sector do most of the driving. The government here has failed at virtually everything they’ve ever done, so why give them the reigns now?
Cayman is not a luxury destination. That’s an illusion. The ritz is a luxury hotel, the kimpton is right behind it and there are lots of good restaurants here but none are luxury…they’re just friggin expensive. Big difference
How about the out of sight bacteria levels in the water:
April 8, 2019 Cayman Compass Article:
“…Enterococci is measured in the number of observed colony forming units per 100 millilitres of water. The US Environmental Protection Agency has established a safe limit of 35 units of enterococci per 100 mL. Florida issues a public advisory when levels exceed 70 units. Beaches in Massachusetts are closed when levels exceed 100 units for a single water sample. In California, the level is 104 units.
On Oct. 31, 2018, samples from Bodden Town Public Beach were measured at 1,733 units. Two other beaches, East End Heritage Beach and North Side Public Beach had readings of 1,533 units and 1,300 units respectively…”
Exactly.
Our politicians have already sold Cayman’s soul to the King of Styrofoam.
“The rebuild will depend on the technology of bio-buttons”.
Make sure enough strong thread 🧵 is acquired to attach the buttons so economy won’t be hanging by a thin thread.
Make sure the photos of raging Dump fire are included in a brochure for high net worth individuals.
Sure Moses, sure. Question, the “Biobutton”, does this newfangled device have anything to do with the Westin Hotel’s proposal to go 10 stories on its current South Side?
Yes, it’s true, folks. See Planning Department for details.
The Biobutton Workers are coming, The Biobutton Workers are coming.
And therein Lies the rub for the catapult, catapulted and catapultors.👁
?…just go to the airport for the next ‘repatriation’ flight…
when workers are happy/forced to return to india/jamaica….it tells you everything you need to know
Oh Gosh, here we go again.
Alden(Premier) says “stay over tourism has been a total failure.”
Moses(Deputy Premier) writes a book (plan) on how we get back to 500k stay over visitors!
Things that make you go hmmmm…
Can’t make this $hit up!!
Will we ever see the redacted backend contract with BioIntelliSense? There’s always an angle with these eels.
To the contrary, the Premier and Minister are exactly on the same page. The Premier said stay over wasn’t working for Caymanian employment and the Ministers plan builds new opportunities for Caymanian employment as we rebuild our tourism industry.
Kudos to them both!
7:52 you are a complete fool if you think Alden or the likes of Moses will be doing anything to aid Caymanians if obtaining jobs. They never have and they sure as hell are not about to start now
They can and they do.
So tell me when was the last time they thought about Caymanians the Tourism business.
Stop looking at the scraps that they throw out to you, they will satisfy hunger now but later on you will be right back at the trough begging for more.
My parents taught me to row my own boat and get the best education you can to survive as I got older. They never taught me to depend on the Government and handouts.
Although we don’t see it or are prepared to ignore it, these politicians do what they have to do to get re-elected. Promises are comfort to a fool. Keeping us dumb and uneducated is their way of ensuring our vote next time..
Your question should be..”When was the last time Caymanians thought about the tourism business ?”
That’s the problem, Caymanians don’t want to work long hours and weekends.
Actually, many Caymanians want to be able to work in the tourism industry, which should be Caymanian dominant. However, our people are overlooked in favor of expats. I am a Caymanian working in the tourism industry and it breaks my heart every time I encounter tourists who say they have been on island for 2-3 weeks and I am the first Caymanian they have encountered. They meet other nationalities, but not our people. This is shameful.
So do not spew that bullshit of Caymanians do not want to work in the tourism industry, I know MANY who do, but are not given the opportunity because someone has a foreign friend who wants to come here.
“Many” = 3.
Vision 2008 was a real winner from what I recall
Travel Time has no date for Canadian’s, rather dates for Miami and the UK, why not Canada first, since they have it under control. Start with countries that have it under control then work from there.
Sure. Good idea. They should come in through quarantine (and not through Miami).
Canadian’s are tightwads that’s why. They simply do not spend money and are in general a very selfish culture. They won’t say it, but that is what it is.
I would rather have them come and spend less and be covid free then to open up the USA to the big spenders and their Covid-19 high infection rate.
8:35, But that Canadian who ran off with your wife was very generous to her.
Get over it Bobo.
Oh, are we playing the stereotype game? Caymanians are lazy, Americans are loud, Brits are arrogant and condescending and Jamaicans are criminals. What do I win?
Nope buddie cause they won’t go home right eh!
Who came up with this bs to” catapult” Cayman .
Paul Byles and Stran Bodden of Ministry of Tourism
Scheme he says…….
As usual Cayman has a scheme for everything. A poor one at that. Put your head back in the sand kirkonnelL
He should have stayed in the brac
He’ll run back there if Grand Cayman sees new imported COVID-19 cases. The Sister Islands are now a considered Safe Haven, and for new reasons other than our own. 😉
I thought Alden took Tourism and Aviation away from Moses and gave it to his protege Joey Who? The PPM civil war has begun and Joey lost. Dart must be pissed that Moses is still in charge and calling the shots.
Tourism plan will catapult us into lockdown!
Like the bars opening, right?
You gotta play the percentages and do the right things.
Opening the bars when we did (might – with hindsight) be seen to have worked.
Opening the bars in April would probably have led us to the state of crisis that Florida, Texas and other US states find themselves in….
Didn’t the Premier Alden McLaughlin say that “stay over tourism has been a massive failure for the Cayman Islands”? He has been losing the plot for a while.
https://caymannewsservice.com/2020/06/stay-over-tourism-massive-failure/
Please retire in 2021 and stop embarrassing the country. Moses K for Premier!
Moses is just as awful if not worse! His master plan will be the root cause of Covid-19 spreading like wildfire in our community when our borders re-open.
They all need to go come 2021!
8.47…who will replace them.?
Moses, Roy, Wayne and Marco are the only ones we can trust, the rest are unemployable salary and benefits seekers.
Why is the Premier allowing this man to force this decision on us? The catapult will likely be COVID-19 roaring into our islands Like never before due to this ignorance! I hope these characters remember that next year is election year because some of us won’t forget the danger we are being exposed to so unnecessarily.
Covid was roaring around before we closed down. Before we social distanced. Before we wore masks. Before we had awareness. And now that we know, or should know, the original models were flawed. At what point do people like you learn that not one dire prediction has even come close to materializing. 800 deaths. 1,000 infected. Wait till the bars open. Now it’s the airport. Do you realize you fear mongers have got nothing right?
11:27pm – This is the best comment but you will get tons of thumbs down votes (and so will I) because Alden’s ‘people’ are sheeple that are easily led and easily convinced that what their leaders say IS gospel.
Basically, who is the tourism minister that bowed to the cruise ship to allow patient zero to offload and head to Health City. The first place that had to shut down…
I don’t blame the patient!! And I am sorry for his death, but….It is what it is.
And don’t forget, his asymptomatic wife spent 2 weeks at the Ritz while he was hospitalized.
Not saying they brought it but it makes sense.
No, the Premier, Hon. Alden McLaughlin did NOT say that “stay over tourism has been a massive failure for the Cayman Islands”. Did you even read the article that you provided the link for? Here is it what it said: “Premier Alden McLaughlin has described stay-over tourism as a “massive failure” when it comes to creating jobs for local people.” That’s the only component of the equation that he mentioned and while it is a crying shame that there are not more Caymanians employed in the industry; the fact is that Stay-over tourism is a MAJOR contributor to the local economy. Please read and comprehend before making the sprawling, all-encompassing negative remarks.
Who directs policies and appoints the boards that process WP’s and Immigration, Education and Employment policies?
Answer: The Premier and his government. These results and talk of failures are a direct failing by the elected governments over the last 20 years. They have collectively failed their people and must own their role in these decisions and actions.
I suggest you watch his presentation, rather than how it was reported, to get the full understanding.
And tourism has been a disaster for the Cayman Islands – and the fault lies with many of the businesses themselves.
All of Tourism, when it’s possible, and working properly, is about 25% of GDP. Ask yourself who specifically benefits under this plan? There are no BioButton Stingray trips, or Jewelry shopping excursions under a home quarantine. Who, other than Dart?
25% is a lot.
Not enough to risk lives.
This high net worth individual knows Cayman is safe. I just can’t get there. 😳
Alden nah no good but you gah be a special breed of fool to want Moses as premier of anything.
The Moses Dealbook, which the public aren’t even allowed to look through, is no better. We have 3 non-flyable aircraft corroding on the tarmac to prove it, and a fourth still on order! Where are the documents for the Brac Turtle abattoir? How much did the airport cost? How did we spend $9mln on a Port they didn’t have a mandate to proceed with?
talk about out of the frying pan and into the fire
CLEAN HOUSE 2021 #VoteCayman
And catapult people right into hospital , way to go
all he wants is rich health conscious tourists. lets.see with his insults to the Middle class people how this goes
Right 10:45. Kenneth for Tourism mimnister
Yeah – with his “Government – give it free and give it now to my Central GT constituents” mentality, we’d end up paying millionaires to come here!
Are the high net worth individuals in the United States the only ones in the US without Covid?
Okay. Democratic High Net Worth Individuals. The ones who wore masks.
I’m a budget traveler who has been traveling to your island for over 20 years. I have worn a mask since this started. My state has mandated it from the start, but guess I am no longer welcome in GC.
HNW people confined to their rooms for 5 days don’t go shopping or visit our attractions. They can’t sit on a lounger at the pool. Their kids are going nuts. It doesn’t matter how much money they might have when they are not allowed to spend it or go outside. Who would fly here to go into lockdown in a tiny hotel room?!? The consumer options are restricted to: burger, salad, or quesadilla! Watch how fast this plan gets redrawn. We are always the suckers that can’t play the scenario two moves ahead.
100% correct 8:08. Think of a HNW family sitting in a room for 5 days locked in the room with small kids! Totally nuts! Why on earth would they submit themselves to that? Think of the HNW single traveler sitting 5 days in a hotel room! 5 long days! No spa, no beach, no pool! No thanks.
Now, think of the bio button. Two HNW adults Alone or on honeymoon wearing the bio button. How many times will authorities be visiting them when their temperature/heart rate/respiratory rate rise? OR the HNW tourist who is exercising in their room and starts to sweat & HR increases. Is this going to set off the alarm? Seems like too many things can set it off…..and where does all the information end up? Not very inviting.
This hnw person would like to visit my beach house. Don’t mind the biobutton but want to stay in my house. No problem getting tested either but 72 hours is too short. I can get the test but Cayman will never review and approve it that fast. Better to tell me exactly which test is required and let me show up with it in my hand.
Ctrl+F sustainable = not found in article.
Ctrl+F environment = not found in article.
Tourism plan obsolete. Alt+f4.
It really is disappointing that there is absolutely no reference to the well laid out plan from the National Trust and DOE.
So what, No succession plans in your high society office for a 1 local Caymanian person anyways….so whats your point.
lol please paper boy.
McKeeva is part of the succession plan next year. Get ready, he’s coming back. The best and the brightest of Cayman returns. Like Trump it does not get any better. 😔
The environment is simply not important to the CIG. There is still no political will to make environmental issues a priority here.
Really time for a Green Party to lessen the power of the developers who run the show here and call all the shots.