Ritz boss attacks CIG’s lack of vision
(CNS): Marc Langevin, the general manager of the Ritz-Carlton resort, pulled no punches Wednesday, as he accused government of abandoning the tourism sector through fear and emotion over the COVID-19 pandemic. Speaking at a private sector tourism event at the hotel, the Ritz boss attacked government for a lack of vision or plan and an illogical approach to the border closure and a ban on most visitors.
Around 60 people from the tourism sector were in attendance at the forum organised by the Cayman Islands Tourism Association following the industry body’s annual general meeting.
Tourism Minister Moses Kirkconnell and Commerce Minister Joey Hew, along with Department of Tourism Director Rosa Harris joined Langevin on a panel examining the survival of the tourism industry in the face of the continued pandemic and the border closure.
Langevin criticised government for its failure to engage with hoteliers, not properly looking and learning from other destinations, not having a vision and a lack of transparency over the missing plan to reopen. He hit out over the failure to develop protocols that could include more testing and technology for potential visitors instead of long quarantines, and of being led entirely by fear and emotion over the pandemic rather than logic.
The situation for the hotel owners, the Ritz manager said, was simply unsustainable and “writing a few cheques for the staff is not going to cut it”, he added, pointing out that with 10% occupancy at his hotel and similar levels at others, they would soon all be out of business.
He pressed the issue of resort bubbles, of which he has been a persistent proponent, and even suggested creating a bubble bridge between Cayman and Canada without the need for quarantine by using repeat testing instead. He suggested that Cayman could be promoted by inviting Canadians to “come and defrost”.
Langevin berated the ministers and expressed his frustration at the lack of any indication when things may begin to open up just a little. But it also became clear from contributions from other hotel owners and tourism stakeholders that the government and the industry leaders were not engaging with them very frequently, if at all.
The ministers both expressed sympathy for the position taken by the industry players, but they both pointed out that the government policy was to prioritise the safety of the resident population. While the tourism sector was not necessarily being discriminated against, protecting the rest of the economy and avoiding another lockdown was still the priority.
Nevertheless, Kirkconnell said that the Cayman economy was not sustainable in the long term without tourism and he admitted that a way had to be found to open up. Falling short of criticising the public health advice, he spoke about the best practice and the decisions being made on advice from the scientists here and in the UK.
He said that things would not have been as bad as they are now, regarding the length of quarantine, were it not for the resurgence of the virus in Cayman’s major market places. He said that the recommendations from public health officials, given the spread of the virus in London and Miami, were such that even with pre-testing, there was still no way to avoid the 14-day quarantine.
Kirkconnell re-emphasized the government’s approach would be to focus on long-term, high net worth guests until the vaccine, which is expected to be available before the end of the year, takes effect and Cayman gets access to quality antigen testing.
Harris confirmed that 32 applications have been made for the Global Citizen Programme but only one has been approved so far. Kirkconnell noted that this equated to over 70 people and that there was a significant number of inquiries coming from very wealthy people. He said that, combined with the number of Seven Mile Beach property owners who had been returning, it would help keep the sector alive until tourism began to unfold more fully in the first quarter of next year.
10:57 from OP You are correct, I was strictly talking about adding an air bridge. There are a lot of Canadians with property in Cayman who would be there spending money now that it is allowable. For me – in order to get to Cayman I have to overnight in Miami as currently there is no way to get to Miami in time to get on the one flight to GCM. I may be negative when I leave here, but 24 hours in Miami…..
To allow short term vacationers? Sorry Ritz, as much as I want them for my rentals I don’t see a well thought out strategy yet
You will be fine in Miami.
phew, thanks
I see a lot of you didn’t take economics and it shows lol. Caymanians love shouting “keep the borders closed” without any feasible information on why that isn’t a good idea. Yes it may seem like everything is good with restaurants, staycations, grocery stores, etc. but, that is for NOW! What about the future ? You guys are already seeing the consequences with many local restaurants (lighthouse) closing down because they’re not getting a sufficient amount of income. Soon the hotels will follow and what’s left for cayman ? You guys are ruining your own island out fear
You had me at “I see a lot of you didn’t take economics and it shows”.
However, here’s the bottom line of phased reopening that every medical professional will tell you, THERE IS NO RECOVERY IF EVERYONE CATCHES THE VIRUS. Nobody wants to be served or sold to if the associate is sick, even more so being fearful of asymptomatic transmission. The Cayman Islands is among the smallest nations in the world and is still emerging. Isolation challenges here are exponentially more difficult to tackle, especially if there is a hurricane and a disaster response is desperately needed. (For reference, imagine damage from Eta times 10) We currently have 1000+ in isolation and hurricane season is not over, sometimes extends beyond November 30 through end of year; population is 60k. Although mortality rates of the virus is roughly 2%, infection rates are as high as 30% in some places that are smaller than us by area!! Why should we take the risk of fully opening borders to catch this thing, and beat mortality rates, only to possibly become a “long-hauler” where the virus symptoms linger, infect others, and will scar you for life (including lung damage, muscle paralysis, and infertility)?!! “Not my problem” attitude doesn’t provide immunity.
Any economics class will teach you about total market share and total local industry valuation. If you are always over-reliant on any particular overseas demographic of customer or optimistic growth projections to survive, your business is not stable and you should not be in business here, period. Stable, sustainable and reliable development is more crucial than ever, Minister of Infrastructure and Minister of Tourism still haven’t learned it yet.
You cater to the core local market and expand outwards overtime as your clientele base stabilizes. Most locals can not afford to purchase $600k+ homes or stay in $400+ / night hotel rooms. (Telling from experience, not asking, I make an above average salary even as a Caymanian).
Even a good business based on bad economics is at risk to fail at some point. If an economy cannot reliably support your business, rain or sunshine, it will fail guaranteed. It is just a balloon getting ready to pop, the only question becomes when? Even if you are able to beat the odds, regardless if you succeed or fail, you are not the first and you certainly won’t be the last and the economy picks up that gain or fallout, paid back by every member in this community.
Business and economics comes down to results not hopes, I.O.U vouchers, day late and dollar short unpaid loans, or crushing others under the pressure of unsustainable growth and sinking everyone else in the process of reaching for the stars. Sorry, tough facts but these are the costs of doing business in the Cayman Islands, take it or leave it.
For the record, I am not against development or small business success of any kind by any nationality, however, the luxury of ignoring consequences and not owning up to any fallouts is on the line. Please have a conscience for how your failures affect people other than yourself or close group of family, friends, and associates. Not everyone can cut their losses, jump ship, and start anew somewhere else. Wherever you go, locals will ALWAYS get stuck with any bills you are responsible for, were left unpaid and resent you for it. No market research required!
More important than studying economics is the study of history. History has shown us time and again that life on earth often gets disrupted by natural disasters, plagues, famines, wars and economic crises.
This generation is long overdue a massive event that shakes our world off it’s axis. Unbridled Economic growth, unleashed capitalism etc etc has all met its match in a once in a generation global pandemic.
Yet every selfish, uninformed and uneducated fool wants life to continue as it always had. It simply cannot. There are luxuries in life called Tourism which many economies like ours have been built on.
The most luxurious of those luxuries is a Ritz Carlton experience. It’s great when the world is normal and people have money to spend and can travel freely.
However in times like these, it is a luxury! It cannot have top priority. That goes to health. It can’t have second, that goes to education. It can’t even have third…or fourth.
Yes it is a factor of the economy but it cannot come at the expense of the entire economy.
In global crises, whether they are wars, natural disasters or pandemics, survival is the key. Staying ahead of death is the key. What we can get back from Tourism right now cannot possibly pay for what it could cost us if we do not manage the reopening wisely.
Tourism will not die. It will come back. No one is chasing it away. It simply is a luxury which few can afford. We will survive this global crisis and build back. That’s what the world did after the war. And ironically the 2 countries who lost the war, Germany and Japan became economic juggernauts. Let’s plan on making our economy stronger than ever when the war of our generation is over.
Hang in their Tourism stakeholders. It’s not easy but we will survive.
If you think tourists are coming here to be quarantined (even if only for hours), you are hallucinating!
These clowns STILL have no idea the level of destruction they have caused, and the worse (much worse) is yet to come.
There are only 2 scenarios for Cayman
#1 Focus on isolating elderly and vulnerable, let others take their risks with Covid while economy still functions and money to purchase medicine and pay doctors still available.
#2 Hide for as long as you can, catch the virus after economy is decimated, doctors repatriated and no money to pay for medicine and equipment left.
Dr.Fauci:
I doubt we’re going to eradicate this… I think we need to plan that this is something we may need to maintain control over chronically. It may be something that becomes endemic that we have to just be careful about.
We have eradicated this. Fauci was referring to the USA.
We could try bringing back smaller cruise ships.
https://thepointsguy.com/news/caribbean-cruise-covid-scare-seadream/
Just like the one that had to return to Barbados with corona virus on board ?? No tjanks
I really hope you aren’t one of the people on CITA’s board and that this isn’t the type of suggestion being brought forward to the Government.
If so I don’t blame government for telling you no! Unreal to think you are coming up with bringing back the floating Petrie dishes as a way to fix Tourism.
Well, for one, I am quite stunned. Absolutely stunned. I know its easy to cast stones at the CIG actions this year – but come on, lets give credit where credit is due.
39 Applications for the Global Citizen! 1 has been approved! Can we all put our hands together for the first successful program that the CIG has done this year!
If CIG could just get one more application approved before the end of the year – yeah – that would make everything great.
MCGA!
Were gona do it bigly
Your sarcasm is noted.
Does anyone else get a feeling that the wealthy ones coming to visit on the global nomad programme may smell the blood in the water and buy out some of these properties having economic issues? Laughable ideas at play… just watching with my popcorn on the side-lines.
Hence the backlash against operating with limited borders (we were never really closed) too many overseas entities and individuals are getting angry because they cannot have boots on the ground to see what they can swipe up from the economic distress, mainly the ever valuable cayman island real estate. And how to profit from the pandemic
Never a better time to buy. 😂 😂 😂
MY FAVORITE PART, and it is not only about hoteliers, it’s the whole economy:
Langevin criticised government for its failure to engage with hoteliers, not properly looking and learning from other destinations, not having a vision and a lack of transparency over the missing plan to reopen. He hit out over the failure to develop protocols that could include more testing and technology for potential visitors instead of long quarantines, and of being led entirely by fear and emotion over the pandemic rather than logic.
Ask Marc how France is doing?
” annual general meeting ”
annual general meeting to discuss what ?
a plan ? THERE IS NO PLAN LOL
Is that like “long ignorance”? Asking for your MOH.
You can give them all the information they need to save themselves but you can’t understand it for them. Hard times ahead for Caymanians as they close themselves off from the rest of the world. Their Government, Their choice, Their future. Thank God they don’t own the island.
The title of this report should have read “The Tourism Industry, as a whole, address important issues with Ministers of Government”. There were over 100 tourism industry owners, leaders and operators at this meeting, and they were all asking important, intelligent, rational questions to the Government Ministers. We are an island in the Caribbean, of course Tourism is a pillar of the economy. Who do you think is financially supporting the construction developments, the financial sector and the real estate sector, that the Government is focusing the majority of its resources on? Overseas financial investment is what keeps this country from falling into a 3rd world status. The accommodation sector, transport, tour operators, dive businesses, restuarants and bars, grocery stores, and all other vendors and retailers on island are suffering financially due to no overseas guests. With sensible pre-testing, arrival testing and a further test 3 days in, we can bring overseas visitors back to Grand Cayman in a controlled and safe way. right now Cayman is surviving, but we NEED TO LIVE!
Well said!
I am not coming on here to give an opinion if the Govt is right or wrong, however we see it in the tourism sector, like the financial sector, that the Govt is not willing to listen to advice from the experts in their respective fields. That is poor Governance.
Funny you might mention that. Everytime we got black listed our financial services provided the same advice.
“If you implement “X“ legislation or regulation that will be the end of the financial services industry.” Without fail the same song for 20 years.
Our financial services industry is now bigger than ever, even though at every beck and call of the OECD, FATF, FCO and IMF done we have eventually capitulated, against the expert advice of the partners of specific firms who have rehearsed the same line over again.
Translated into layman’s terms, I am the partner of this firm. I plan on getting my huge payout real soon so don’t you dare do anything that could potentially mess up my golden handshake or shower or whatever they get as partners.
So now, it’s the tourism experts’ turn. But the truth is their advice is again flawed. They want to expose the whole economy to the real risk of a second and economically fatal lockdown.
So perhaps it’s bad governance in your book. Or maybe you feel these so called experts are looking out for your best interest because they care so much about Cayman.
I admire your faith in them.
Seems the tourism industry and border reopening is reliant on a vaccine.
Reading between the invisible lines since government wont tell us their plan (if they even have one), does this mean they expect to make the vaccine mandatory for Cayman residents (to be able to leave Cayman and return) and that only visitors with proof of having been vaccinated will be allowed in?
Because based on the expected reluctance of many to take a rushed vaccine, I sure hope they arent pinning everything on assuming everyone will be vaccinated…
At least someone spoke up, rather elegantly and educated and offered an alternative. Whether he’s right or wrong, at least it may get people moving faster towards a safe reopening. Currently the sense is that we’re not moving at all towards it, instead we’re waiting and hoping. That never works. Maybe something will come of it.
Joey and Moses looked like they can’t wait to be voted out in May. If i was in charge, I’d…I’d….I have no idea what I’d do actually now I think about it.
11:14 What was elegant or educated about the way Marc spoke? He shot himself in the foot with his inability to keep a level head. Many have frustrations but exploding like a 12 year old hitting puberty benefits no one. Only makes him look foolish.
Amazing how much expertise one has to have in order to manage a hotel.
Who voted for Langevin?
Lol
Although I do not agree with Marc’s delivery of his frustration I can understand where he is coming from. Those of you who do not work in the Tourism industry cannot begin to understand how any of us feel and it feels as if the Tourism sector is not a respected field to even have dedicated our lives to. There may not be many Caymanians in the hotels but there sure are in the Condominiums and we have had the rug pulled out from under feet since the start. Drastic pay cuts and constant worry of uncertainty.
Look around and honestly tell anyone that Tourism is not a main source of income for The Cayman Islands..it is! We look stupid repeatedly telling potential guests that “we don’t know when our borders will reopen to Tourists” I mean come on for Christ Sake make a damn plan and show us in the Tourism sector that you give a damn!
The tourism industry chased Caymanians from opportunity in the hotels, and now expect us to be concerned?
Please stop the BULLSHIT…..you are not getting the point.
It is not just about the hotels. There are many Caymanians in other areas of the Tourism industry who you should give a damn about. Their job title may not “wow” anyone but they matter and are suffering.
They have been given multiple opportunities to retool during and after this pandemic. It’s your fault if you want to sit dormant but with your $1000 tourism stipend and not seek alternative employment. Then complain about the circumstances.
@3:59pm…you got a lot of nerve to make such assumptions to imply everyone in the Tourism industry are receiving this stipend or even applied! You think that all of us are here mooching off of Government’s handouts? You think it’s easy like the click of a finger to get another job…NO! it takes time and effort jackass. Have you ever been a housekeeper and clean up other people’s shit, piss, vomit to keep food on the table for your children, put them through school and be looked down on from others? I think not so kiss my A$@.
Beads and mirrors while others reap millions. Not worth it.
So you’d rather lie to them and give them a totally unrealistic date to reopen, just like we lie to people and tell them come to Cayman for an authentic experience?
There is nothing authentic about this place. Our product has become a dogs breakfast of money grabbers who have pissed in a collective pot, put sugar and red dye in it and sold it as tropical fruit punch.
If he had a little bit of humility about him ppl may listen, but since he put on the jacket it’s like he is the second Jesus. An he does not like anything called local except that PR stamp
who?
Who are you talking about?
Santa Claus
when you consider the refusal of government to reduce their own civil service expenditure when they are runnning a $300m deficit year on year…..you can begin to understand the frustrations of the private sector.
Personal income tax coming by this time next year. This economic strategy with already a $300 million deficit is not economically sustainable.
I would feel more for the Ritz if they actually hired Caymanians.
they do…they just don’t last that long….
2:32 Rarely, those who are hired and run out the second they have a friend or family member to bring in. The Ritz has been one of the biggest anti-Caymanian companies on island.
Hope you know the differences between citizenship ‘buy’ PR and citizenship by birth.
Besides, nobody likes getting worked like a dog in their own country and definitely not for someone else, anywhere you go. Maybe in someone else’s but not in their born and raised, sorry. Don’t like? TOUGH!
Many people wants the Government to come up with a plan but not no one is really giving any input that really makes sense Only voicing their concerns about what could be and what they want.We are constantly getting cases now which mainly consists of travellers imagine what will happen if we threw the door wide open.Remember that testing is not a cure it’s a procedure to detect who has the virus so if we should open up and discover that we’re importing hundreds of cases, is there any suggestion where we go from there?
Burmuda!
Bermuda opened their borders in July and have been running an enhanced testing program with a very limited quarantine for the last 3 months. You do a pre flight test 3 days before travel and then you don’t quarantine after your arrivals test is negative but you are required to do further tests at something like day 5, day 9 and day 14.
Bermuda currently has 23 active cases and more importantly zero deaths since they opened their borders. Cayman currently has 16 active cases.
If Cayman ran pre flight testing and a reduced the quarantine to 5 days or 8 days with further testing until 14 days we would be more strict than Bermuda who have made it work with a minimal quarantine.
There are alternatives to the current Cayman approach which have been shown to work. This is what Marc Langevin and others are now getting frustrated about. Government is simply not willing to listen or entertain other possible solutions.
How many Tourists are flooding into Bermuda?
It is not quite the season to run to Bermuda, but they are one of the fabulous choices we have to go to who are open with out quarantine, realistic Covid protocols, and offering welcome back specials.
How many heads are in beds. Are their hotels bustling? Are their taxi operators getting good money ?
9:30. WHAT? $300M where did you get that from? The jealousy of our civil service who keeps us safe continues.
If you are smoking please stop
so no-plan-ppm don’t have a plan????
been saying that for the last 8 months.
the scope of this economic crisis is beyond the ‘expertise’ of anyone in cig.
time for the governor to bring in top international economic advisors
We are still waiting for you to wash your hands and wipe your a$$ properly. We are not letting these nasty people in because you want or need it.
Just where do we find these advisors? Not the UK, they are locking down again. Not the US, they need to be locked down with covid-19 cases increasing daily. Not the other countries who tried opening up with little or no quarantine and are seeing increase in cases.
Other countries are going through second lock downs as cases surge breaking records daily….but hey what’s important here…Ritz Carlton is losing money that’s what.
Not just the Ritz Carlton. The government is losing a fortune in tourist tax and indirect taxation on all the goods and services tourists consume. You may change your tune if CIG started cutting civil service pay, expenditure on infrastructure and government services because they no longer have that revenue. You haven’t noticed that impact because COG is busy spending its reserves like a drunken sailor, but that cannot continue indefinitely.
They know they’re losing money but are cautiously trying to protect their people against a virus that has killed over 100k in our biggest tourist market. I’m not a fan of this government by any means but am surprised and appreciative of them putting the people of Cayman first in this instance.
you mean in a population over nearly 400 million people, where the average age of death of people who had covid is older than the average life expectancy? And where only less than 6% of people who died of covid didnt have any other pre-existing conditions?
The first number is like more than 20% overstated so I’m guessing the second statistic is bullshit too. And what the hell does “the average age of death of people”…how old was death?
That’s right you are woke. Covid doesn’t exist. Cough cough.
So no need for the vaccine right?
It’s all a hoax! To destroy the economy of the world right?
Donald Trump won the election too right?
Over 400 million people…. you lost me right there😂
The spending will continue. Cayman’s leaders are hedging their bets on the vaccine as the saviour. Any Accountant or CFA -financial advisor will illustrate that the loss of the tourism sector is really only accounting for the minimal amount of loss on a percentage basis, when compared to the financial industry that Govt’ is relying on now to float the territory thru the crisis .They are still getting their cut on stamp duties on various sources, such as real estate & development fees ,including import duty on goods coming in the front door to include fuel , food supplies , etc. But all these fee’s will be getting eroded by the civil service wages going out the back door , along with having to toss Cayman Airways a life preserver , also stuffed with money. We have none of the tourism US$ streaming in like it used to , to pay for stuff though. If you are waiting on the vaccine to kick start the tourism sector and the Economy with some lighter fluid , be prepared for a long wait for the vaccine to be shown successful and that success to trickle down to here. No idea of how long though , it would be just guessing to put a time frame on it. I wish it wasn’t the case .
But other islands are open all over the Caribbean. Whats wrong with us?
11:46 Nothing, we are the only island with sense.
Other countries?(Your a tiny island)They have chosen life and a future of continued prosperity by living with the risks of covid along with the risk of everything else. Cayman has chosen not to participate. Let them. How much power will they have over anyone when they are broke and everyone else is still rich? If you have the ability to think use it. If not hiding as long as you can is still your best shot.
chamber should take note who are giving cig a free pass to destroying caymans economy with no recovery plan in sight.
The chamber’s priority has always been big business. Perhaps what they should be looking into, is how the average Caymanian has been ripped off by merchants on a daily basis, since March 2020.
same as the financial services sector
He is right about the air bridge to Canada, but with quarantine. There are lots of Canadians that want / need to get to Cayman, but right now we have to fly to Miami. Sure, Ontario cases are up from the the summer, but Miami alone has had twice as many cases as the entire province of Ontario, and the USA is currently reporting new daily cases in the 140,000 range, compared to total active cases in Canada of 43,000. I assure you I would be in Cayman, have done my quarantine, and would be spending money right now if I didn’t have to first go to Miami.
“need” ?
10:24 Yes “need”. Many people like me had to leave in March before the airport closed and haven’t been able to get back. In my case I have property damage from Eta and additionally I would love to be spending money on renovations right now while the tourists are gone.
Can’t buy no materials for renovations. All contractors are busy and prices through the roof.
You ain’t missing much. Best time to sell though as the realtors are ripping everyone a new one and you can get any price you imagine for your property.
Unfortunately, the “typical” Canadian tourist is not the type of tourist the Cayman Government is seeking.
And for the most part, they are not homeowners, and they will not be staying at the Ritz.
Canadians for the most part want cheap, all-inclusive resorts such as Mexico, Cuba and Jamaica. Not high end luxury vacations or long term stays.
I heard in Canada they tax you on the total you spent on your overseas holiday. No wonder Canadians don’t stay at the Ritz!!
Lol
obviously that is not true.
Canadians aren’t tourists. They come and don’t leave.
They take our women too.
Ontario had a record day yesterday for covid cases and Toronto is all but shut down. Don’t be giving Cayman false news. We are in second phase lockdown. Smarten up or keep your mouth shut. This is Cayman’s choice. Sorry about your property but at least it is your second property. #firstworldproblems #notyourcountry #youboughtoutsideofCanada #playbytheirrules
understand that 3 new cases on an island of 60,000 is more per capita than 1000 cases in a province of 14,000,000. on a per capita basis Canada has only twice as many cases as Cayman – and the island has been closed for 8 months. We are doing way better than the UK and the USA, where flights are coming from. Doesn’t sound unreasonable, so perhaps it is you mouth that should be shut.
We are at that stage where damned if we do or damned if we don’t and I feel we need to hang on for a wee bit more and hopefully those vaccines will make a positive effect on this deadly virus. I am hoping by Feb/March next year the light at the end of the tunnel will shine bright. This is a Cayman Islands issue that we all need to work towards and hopefully the positive will by far outweigh the negative.🖒🤗💕
Covid-19/20/21 has been frustrating for everyone, especially those fortunate not to have been exposed to it. The vocal among them still aren’t conscious of how fortunate they are to have had a govt willing to entertain strict lockdown protocols when we did. It worked. Had the first world looked to NZ and not Sweden, and done what we did, we wouldn’t be in this situation. That’s not CIG’s fault.
“…how fortunate we are…” LOL
You can’t hide forever, but the virus can. Sooner or alter you’ll catch it, unless you are immune, as 99% of the earth’s population.
So you might still catch the virus when the economy is completely decimated, hospitals and doctors function on a bare minimum and there is no money to buy medicine and pay for the treatments. Do you like this scenario better?
Kudos to Marc Langevin for telling the truth. The shameful issue here is that after 10 months of Covid none of the professional organisations have pushed government on these issues. In any healthy society there are checks and balances with healthy debate amongst different representative groups. Alden’s approach since day one has been to stifle that debate through fear and intimidation. You are either with him or against him and if you are against him you are labelled as someone who is indifferent to human life.
Once again the advice government is getting is flawed and incorrect, this time on quarantine periods. If Bermuda can make it work with extensive testing and no quarantine after your negative arrivals test, how can Cayman say only a 14 day quarantine will work?
Time and again we have been distracted and diverted away from taking positive and progressive steps forward through either intimidation or a fear based approach from government. This has to stop.
Moses himself admitted that Cayman cannot survive without tourism. Without a plan we will fail and there is no plan. Therefore our tourism industry will fail. It’s now just a matter of when not if, unless government changes course.
Mr. 8:58 am; Your slant seems to be telling us that everyone will die if we don’t agree. I disagree!
@11.01am “…If we don’t agree…” to what?
It is our own government that has made this a binary issue and it has never needed to be this.
Alden’s approach has been completely black and white. Eradicate Covid from Cayman irrelevant of the short or long term costs to our economy or the negative impact to our society.
I am not saying that everyone will die, far from it. Bermuda has now been open for 4 or 5 months with an enhanced testing program and very short quarantine period. Since they opened up they have had zero deaths! There is room for Cayman to reduce the quarantine period and create resort bubbles or something similar BUT Alden refuses to move away from his black and white approach. Why?
Cayman can not only survive, but can thrive, without tourism. Mass market tourism should be permanently excised from our shores. The cost to society of thousands of minimum wage workers imported to sustain it is simply not worth it.
This is such a foolish comment made with no reference to the true economic costs of doing this.
What counts as mass market tourism in your mind? Are you saying remove all the hotels which have more than 20 rooms? Or how about those new condo buildings (already built) which are more than 7 stories high. Where are you going to come up with the kind of economic demand to replace this or the economic growth that will occur in tourism in the next 5 to 10 years?
When you say simply not worth it, do you know how many Caymanians working in taxis, tours, watersports and many many other service industries that rely on tourism? No. I thought not.
I don’t think you understand the economics of the tourism industry. It isn’t just the chambermaids, hotel bartenders/servers, and tour operators. The industry supports all the store front businesses, large and small, all the airport and terminal workers, all transportation workers including shuttles, taxis, rental cars, public transport. All the restaurants, all the property management companies and employees, many civil servants, maintenance workers, construction workers etc etc. Tourism touches and benefits every person in Cayman.
Who works in the vast majority or the roles you describe?
NOT CAYMANIANS
Who has to bear the cost to society of the subsistence level wages paid in those roles?
CAYMANIANS.
The model is unsustainable. It needs drastic fixing.
Where exactly do you think Caymanians work? Clearly you did not read or understand the comment.
I will dumb it down
Civil Service jobs are supported in part by tourism dollars.
Everything is supported in part by tourism dollars.
No tourist dollars will mean many employed Caymanians will lose their jobs
Here we go again …Instead of lighting a candle we resort to cursing the darkness.
Here is my humble suggestion ,let us convene a panel inclusive of young Caymanian university graduates to craft a plan which will allow us to begin to diversify our economy.Secondly , why not consider funding micro- industries and set up an organization modelled off the now famous Grameen Bank. And thirdly, reform the agricultural sector in a way which allows farmers better access to technical assistance and markets so that the supermarkets and other large scale outlets can have a regular supply of local produce (beef,pork eggs and mutton )which is already of excellent quality and will then be sustainable in terms of quantity.
From as long as as 1978 , I wrote that we were building an economy on a shaky foundation if the two pillars were banking and tourism neither of which offered us ,the Caymanian people total control.
I have offered my comments in good faith and now will sit back and read the ad hominem responses of those who hide behind their anonymity to curse me and remind me that I am of no worth.
tourism was never a pillar
Dr. Roy, with all, do respect I don’t know why you would continue to try and educate and elevate these people with progressive thoughts that will only serve to free them from mental slavery and place them on a path to self-determination. They have spoken from many moons ago and the vast majority have stated that is not something they desire. They wish to remain loyal subjects to the pigmentocratic and plantocracy ideals that have them enslaved and regressed to begin with. They wish to remain unlettered and focus on money, colorism, and power as the center of their social dynamics. They are not attacking your thoughts or ideas with constructive criticisms or suggestions, but rather they are attacking you. Gerrard was so right…..
(due respect)
Great catch ! Hope you enjoyed the rest of the op-ed.
Mr Bodden that is all great for the long term, but what about in the moment. Secondly the products you mentioned are definitely not of quality so we would first need to make them be at least palatable before we get in bed with this. Farming has always been the answer to many of the Caribbean’s issues but has not been seen as lucrative or glamorous enough by today’s youth. I applaud your effort buy the antagonistic approach is typical old school politics
This is neither cursing or stating you are of no worth. But, if those are the best ideas you can come up with, then that’s pretty poor.
Seriously, you think young Caymanian university graduates know sh1t about the economy and how to fix it? They may be clever in their academic subjects (emphasis on may) but I would no more take their advice than take an IOU from Mac.
Funding micro-industries might help a little although the example you gave, a micro bank giving loans to poor people without collateral, would be just giving money away.
And the agricultural sector simply cannot compete price-wise with the supermarkets and unless you figure out a means of subsidising them, local produce will remain a premium item. You can’t make the supermarkets buy from the farmers without some kind of financial inducement.
The future of Cayman is still largely in Finance/Law and tourism, but it needs to have more Caymanians with a stake in it. in turn the future lies with the younger generation, but there is a massive underperformance in local education, not really the fault of teachers but money spent in the wrong places and cultural resistance. You need more academic, more employable youth. Until you have smart reliable Caymanians owning and running the major professional practices and owning and running the major hotels, plus a Govt mainly made up of good hard workers with integrity and at least a little vision, Cayman won’t progress. So concentrate on making youth better educated and more employable, and vote for a Govt which actively endorses that.
Thank you wake up cayman the real ones
Dear Mr. Bodden
I have looked for your 1978 plan, but I am unable to find it anywhere. Could you please tell us what you suggested building the economy on all those years ago. With hindsight, I would suggest that the Islands have done very well on banking and tourism.
As for the farmers – I would gladly support them, however I find it hard to justify buying local eggs when the eggs from America are cheaper. I really don’t think that there is sufficient quantity of local produce to make any real difference.
I agree, let’s support the young Caymanian graduates as, on a whole, they are more worldly and educated that their parents and grand parents.
Sorry Mr Langevin, I don’t agree with you. At this point the last thing Govt should be doing is betting against validating a risk reward scheme that could potentially collapse the whole economy further. We’ve made it this far and there are plenty of other tourism related operators with vastly less liquidity than your organisation that are finding a way through. With that said we shouldn’t be idle, there should be an massively active initiative that ‘Cayman is aware and waiting to have you back’ ensuring when travel restrictions are lifted it’ll be full speed ahead. The second to last thing we need is ‘a trickle’ arrival rate over any lengthy period, – this will be more damaging to operators who will have to invest heavily (at any opening onset) to become operable again only to then have minimal returns. Although obvious, the scale of expenditure against income needs to make sense to be sustainable and makes no sense to ‘just open for a limited few. With a potential vaccine arrival there is no excuse now Mr Kirkconnell to sit idle and ponder over whether to make a plan, – use the time wisely so that Cayman is at the forefront (together without health compromise) of travellers minds when they are seeking a destination in the near future.
There won’t be a vaccine in a foreseeable future.
Secondly, who said there won’t be another highly contagious virus appearing seemingly out of nowhere?
Then another? Until population is significantly reduced and the rest are succesfully trained to “live on command”.
I’d rather die than live like that. Life is for living, not surviving.
>I’d rather die than live like
I mean… who are we to stand in your way.
Well, we are all free to get what we want aren’t we? We can get on an outbound plane and seek our liberty and fortune. We could go elsewhere to meet it face-to-face and try our luck. There are plenty of half-open zombiescapes around the world where you can try to pretend Covid-19 doesn’t factor. You are only fooling yourself. The Billions that might have been foregone in short term lockdown impairments, have now turned into sustained year-long Trillions in federal bailouts, with concurrent mass bankruptcies from retaining 100% fixed/variable costs on 25% normal revenues. Cayman is in much better shape for having put in the early work to starve-out new hosts. It’s now one of the few enviable Covid-free oasis case studies with no local resident deaths.
That’s a pretty limited perspective. There will undoubtedly be more virus’s but you appear to be suggesting that in any such event the response would be the same which is pretty unlikely. Recent studies are finding long term effects for those who have contracted COVID, – if you’re venturing to Vegas casino payout percentages are well known, with this virus the odds are still being determined, – ask yourself how lucky do you feel not necessarily for yourself, but those near to you and everyone else that could be exposed.
What Marc has failed to mention that many of the owners at the Ritz probably don’t agree with him. The resort bubble popped when the owners who reside there drove a pin through the middle of it.
So blaming government alone smacks of playing to the crowd and blaming others for their own short-sightedness.
No doubt they are in pain. Can’t argue with that point.
Marc Langevin – as we say in the UK… wind your neck in. Here is what has happened, policy set by elected officials was to save lives not the economy, which can be rebuilt. It’s binary – you can’t have both.
If you don’t like it pack up and jog on, I’ve got a buyer for your hotel that will give you 15c/$1 – don’t like the price? Argentina didn’t like the price either the last time your master took advantage of their economic situation.
The risks associated with lockdowns—increased domestic abuse, suicide, depression, drug abuse, economic hardship—are almost certainly worse than the disease itself.
Acknowledge the difference between a thirty-forty year-old and a seventy-year-old.
Instead of imposing blanket lockdowns on everyone, it would make far more sense to isolate the elderly.
This certainly would would be—much better than shutting down the entire country for everyone. But it was never even considered.
Sounds good, but impossible to do in Cayman. There are too many multi-generational households on this island. Many many elderly would be at risk.
To 9.29. Actually the statistics here do not reflect what you posted with regards to lockdown risks.
So hopefully as the UK and US under Biden go into second lockdowns they will be 100% half ass measures applying all the evidence and metadata. Only old people will be locked up so Biden won’t be seen in public for 2 months or so while Kamala runs the show.
Seriously, let our great masters show us all the way. We will be watching and enthusiastically learning.
I am reposting my comment that is sourced from American Affairs. I do agree that population must be classified and treated to age related risk.
“One of the most amazing aspects of the global response to the coronavirus has been the total refusal to classify and treat populations according to age-related risk. Although Covid-19 can be quite deadly among older populations, it is well established at this point that it poses a fairly minor risk for people under fifty. For those under thirty, the risks associated with lockdowns—increased domestic abuse, suicide, depression, drug abuse, economic hardship—are almost certainly worse than the disease itself. ”
https://americanaffairsjournal.org/2020/06/americas-unhealthy-gerontocracy/
No mention of “long covid” .. the residual symptoms that persist for many months, utterly destroying life quality.
symptoms considered chronic after they lasted 6 months or longer
Please look at the data to inform your view points. There is not a single case of an employee being infected in an island that has reopened to tourism with a proper PCR testing and resort bubble protocol. All outbreaks have occurred from local residents returning and not following protocols or entering the country illegally. Our government has led us to believe that 14 day quarantine is the only option when the governments of Bermuda, Barbados, British Virgin Islands, St. Kitts and Nevis, Anguilla and many other islands all have reached different conclusions and have either reopened safely or will soon. We are the only country in the Caribbean without a reopening plan.
The risks of repeat PCR testing and a resort bubble with strict protocols are far, far less than the current protocol of no pre-arrival testing and home isolation. This has been proven time and again in other countries. If there is a will, there is a way to reopen safely – otherwise we will remain closed to visitors through the first half of 2021 or later.
Wow you’re truly talking out of your a$$….Bahamas had numerous hospitality cases after initial premature opening. People like you are dangerous.
Talking about talking out of your ass – you are aware that the case surge you refer to in the Bahamas was amongst returning residents and community contacts right?
Returning residents were not required to quarantine, in Bahamas!
And now Bahamas has reopened on Nov 1 without pre-flight testing or quarantine, and as late as 4 Nov they hadn’t figured out how to handle the tourists who are to be tested on day 5 in the country!
The estimate is that 1 in 70 people in New Providence, Bahamas has/had covid. The morgue is at 3x capacity.
The Bahamas did not have a proper protocol in place and have now made revisions. You can’t compare apples to oranges. We can learn from the mistakes other countries have made and learn from what has worked.
And look they’re opening again because they learned from their mistakes fool. They had to shut back down because they didn’t put strict restrictions when opening the first time like Bermuda and other islands
I’ve just learned that all family members of my distant relatives had COVID few months ago.
– teenagers got it easy, like common cold. One had it twice.
– 40 years old dad, HIGH RISK (severe obesity) was very sick, still fatigued, but he never went to a doctor and keeps running his own business.
– 61 years old grandma had to take medicine at home. Timing is everything and thanks to her daughter in law who works at a hospital and timely recognised potential clots issue. She has fully recovered.
– another 65 years old female was very sick, but fully recovered.
– 86 years old great-grandma who had heart surgery last year went to a hospital once her symptoms were suggesting clots and pneumonia, was admitted, treated and discharged 5 days later. She did have pneumonia and clots markers were high. She has fully recovered.
– 39 old mom, a nurse, didn’t get sick. She is heavily into “alternative” treatments and prevention which allopathic medicine rejects. Essential oils inhalations, gargling with iodine, maintaining adequate vitamin D level. The hospital offers on the premises red-light and UV therapies for its employees.
The above example demonstrates that COVID19 is very contagious. But it is manageable and treatments are effective. Even high-risk people recover with no lasting consequences.
The virus is here to stay. Learn to live with it.
Focus on protecting “high risk” people. Test vitamin D levels of all vulnerable people and act accordingly.
Marc Langevin spoke the truth and really embarrassed the those two jokers. The look on their faces was classic. Poor Moses and Joey are hopeless with diminishing credibility. God help Cayman if this is the best we have as future leaders
Sorry, but no “poor” anyone. They’ve shown time and time again they’re not up for the task. These are surely not leaders!!
Marc is a selfish idiot who only cares about himself and money. The local economy “ construction, shipping, banking, restaurants, supermarkets, etc “ are doing great but he wants to jeopardize this for the sake of his few dollars. In case you don’t understand if we have to do a second lock down, that means the whole economy including your 10% occupancy and staycations goes to 0.
Just wait 3 more months for the vaccine and you will flourish as the whole world is ready for a vacation. Oh and please hire more Caymanians, when we safely open.
Marc’s just the hotel manager, and his master is Dart, owner of the hotel. I hope people wisen-up in 2021 to who the background belligerent is in most greed-based pressure tactics here. It almost always trickles up to the same common C-suite of bad actors at Forum Lane.
Marc doesn’t work for Dart. Try again.
Who owns the Ritz Carlton?
Answer: DART
CNS: Dart owns the building. The hotel is operated by the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company. That is who the GM works for.
Who gets half the tourist tax?
1. It’s not 3 months you will have to wait for a vaccine but at least 9 months before it has reached enough people to be effective.
2. Marc isn’t attacking anyone personally, why are you? He has an opinion which is credible and I personally agree with. Cayman is being far too timid and risk averse here. Other countries have shown it can be done.
3. Moses admitted in his presentation that Cayman cannot survive without tourism. All the supporting services you mentioned will ultimately fail or be radically downsized including construction, shipping, restaurants and supermarkets. Financial services will not provide enough income to keep Cayman going. We are reaching a tipping point where the current construction projects, mostly sold to off island money, will be finishing and then what?
Stop blaming the messenger and understand the message. Government has no plan and worse keeps deferring or removing the plans they promote. You cannot run businesses and the tourism industry when you cannot plan ahead.
I get your point but in 3 months there will be options. Moses is the tourism minister and he has to say that Cayman will not survive without this product. All the waterfront a duty free shops belong to the Kirkconnell family and I am sure they are dealing with major loss as well.
I don’t usually support the PPM but during the COVID the Premier stepped up and did what is right for the people of the island. No deaths most Caymanians are still employed, we are all free to enjoy our lives at the moment. All it cost us was some money.
You can’t be judge and juror, player and referee. The oppressors don’t get to make the rules or dictate the response to their selfish and acquisitive demands.
Thank you! Someone with common sense
Why do we keep saying we don’t have a plan? We do. It is to not restart tourism until a safe and viable approach can be implemented.
So far the tourism industry has failed to come up with it. Do you want your neighbor facing Covid positive guests all day then returning to your strata at night?
The hotels refused to put their staff up in a quarantined facility to keep them from mixing with the wider population.
Let’s not talk about Covid Beach or Covid Watersports which would have to be created to ensure the guests enjoy their freedom within a safe spot.
Sounds open minded and creative right? Tell
them to go fly a kite.
You and every person you know is selfishly oriented and going to gravitate toward their own selfish interests. You want Marc to behave in a way that fills your neediness, but you can’t round up enough people to be selfless to keep you happy all the time.
I wouldn’t say that they’re doing “great” but they are getting BY for now. I’m guessing many of you didn’t take economics and it shows bad lol.
Yesterday Joey and Moses got whipped by the master LOL
Moses and Joey were exposed as being clowns for all to see yesterday by their BFF Marc L who works for their bosses the Camana bay mafia.
This government has no plans for anything that much we can all agree on. After such a public flogging now watch Alden Moses Joey and the rest now grant every wish of dart as he reminded them us who is really in charge of these islands.
Oligarchy in play!!
Lol Joey and Moses look so fool sitting there getting blasted out.
And the man is so correct. We are just about the only place still left lockdown.
And we are just about the only place safely able to send our kids to school and hug our parents and eat in restaurants.
Negative ! Bermuda, St Lucia, Turks and Caicos are all open and the citizens there can do all things that caymanians can do and much more.
Well go live there. I am sure you will enjoy the standard of living and the warm welcome you will receive.
I live in the US. I’ve been teaching in person at a school since July ( summer school) and regular classes since late August with no Covid cases. I can hug family members as they are in my bubble. We eat out at restaurants. I go to the gym and we all get our haircut. We go to stores. We are traveling this December. We, in the US, have high Covid numbers, but my family is following protocols ( masks in public places/ social distance and wash our hands). We also continue to live our lives.
and now everyone else is going back in
Open up safely like Bermuda!!! Forget the wealthy- They have Covid, too, ya know, but they just aren’t that interested in a Cayman holiday. Focus on families and single professionals. Testing before the flight, upon arrival and on 5 th day. Or- look at plans such as St Lucia. Waiting for a vaccine is not the answer as many will not take it, many will take only one dose and not the second etc. Travelers are going elsewhere so when you do open, you will be lucky to get back your original travel base
Why can Bermuda open up to Canadians but we don’t know how?
Bermuda has Covid. We do not.
Actually you do. Cayman Islands have more cases of COVID-19 than Bermuda and look who border IS open. Smh you fools
Cayman Islands- Covid- 253
Bermuda- Covid- 214
And all the recent Cayman Cases are travelers.
Bermuda is open to more than just Canada.
Bermuda has opened to all tourists! Kudos to them!
Bubble bridge from Canada without the need to quarantine? What a foolish idea. In Toronto (where the flight direct to Cayman would fly from) COVID is on the rise and things are shutting down again.
Just not true that the situation in Ontario is bad enough that tourism couldn’t work with proper testing.
It most certainly is that bad. Unless you are from here, shut your mouth. It is awful. Until you can’t attend a funeral or wedding of a loved one, you should zip it.
Marc, come on dude. You do not get to risk our whole economy and local lives so you can employ minimum wage foreign nationals as servers. That is not logical. The science is clear.
The situation in Ontario is not bad. Only 15k new cases in the last week and a half. Most Canadians do not have the virus. They would be tested before and when they arrive. Follow Bermuda’s testing regime.
Marc is right, hotels cannot survive for long like this with 10% occupancy. We need to bring tourists back to Cayman. We cannot stay locked down forever.
Most cases in the affluent areas of Toronto and its sub cities, York Region and Ottawa. Who do you think would be flying into Cayman!? If you’re the guy who is posting with your home that you “need” to get to, I assume you have friends who live in Cayman and they have family. What kind of sick, selfish, and entitled brain power do you have where you feel to convince Cayman that they should let you in? Fly through Miami Bobo and take YOUR chances.
Is this this same fella that proposed the resort bubble at the Ritz and Kimpton without checking with the owners at these hotels.
Why should we listen to him?
Marc if you want greater occupancy at the Ritz Offer
200 a night staycations
Reduce the price for brunch
Hire more Caymanains (reduction in work permit fees
Get rid of toxic employees
Buy another jacket
Do you have to be that nasty? Proletariat mentality.
Join the Civil Service and become World Class.
Word Class A$$.
I’m buying if you’re selling world class ass.
I don’t very often agree with anything Moses says, but in this case he has my full support.
This is clearly one of the many downsides to the rampant overdevelopment we have gone through in recent years. Overbuilding and creating employment for non-Caymanians. Who really benefits? Certainly not us. When things suddenly go sour who is called on to support this massive infrastructure? Caymanians.
Something is wrong with this picture. It should be a balanced process where everyone benefits. Not just a one-sided affair where the greedy investor dictates what the locals should get and not get.
Everyone is looking forward to the day when we can reopen. But it must be done safely. Safely to both Caymanians and non-Caymanians.
So Mr. Langevin, suck it up Buttercup. Suck it up!
Doom and gloom for Cayman! Wach out ! Dart to pull out from Cayman. Coming events cast their shadow. Really Sad! What’s next?
Make him pull out then! He has overdeveloped us with CIG’s consent for far too long. So make him go.
Have you seen the drive toward Camana bay or Camana bay round about? It is a disgrace. He doesn’t keep it up and it looks like an overgrown jungle. Sadly this is what many “investors” do. Build things, get the worship and praise, then disregard them after.
Wasnt the deal that Dart built the road and put in the landscaping and then the NRA maintained it? Or not.
One can but hope…!
Dart is too heavily invested in these islands to just pull out.
That’s what she said.
Its all about cashand not lives yet again. Stop crying man
Loud, shouting nincumpoop.
Yeah, an air bridge to Canada.
Have you examined the CVD-19 situation in Ontario? Is that not where the Toronto flight starts?
Cayman sure has its share of diversity, not barring idiots like this one.
Yeah 4:53, foolish idea for Cayman but good idea for a Canada air bridge with Bermuda and Barbados. Why? Or are we just stupid?
Miami alone has twice as many covid cases than all of Ontario combined. travellers should still have to quarantine, but doesn’t it seem foolish to send everyone who needs to get to Cayman into a Covid hotspot to get their flight? Understand the per capita numbers; Canada has an infection rate of 73 per 10,000 population. Cayman has 38 per 10,000—and you’ve been closed for 6 months. Canada is a lower risk than most other places, including UK at 185 per 10,000 and USA at 323 per 10,000
Most important keep Cayman Islands safe, if there are life there are hope, but if no life then all hope is gone forever
The guy clearly cant take the pressure.
Not easy watching other big hotels similar to Ritz in Bermuda and Barbados successfully hosting Canadians, and we do nothing here remaining completely closed.
We learn from no one here because we think we are a brilliant people.
Government is full of lies, kuddos to Marc for standing up to them and expressing his concerns. The only thing government care about is wealthy visitors. They could careless about the thousands of people who are away from their family (especially kids and spouses) that have no access to and from the island. What makes it even worse is that people who have government jobs or full time jobs cannot take two weeks off just for quarantine. What happened to the bio button? What happened to the pre pcr test before arrival? They had months to plan a suitable way of opening the borders and here we are still at phase 1. They keep talking about this vaccine like it’s a miracle potion that will poof away COVID-19. I can’t wait to get off this rock
It’s Couldn’t care less.
Yep the resort bubble is a brilliant idea. But tell us where do the staff go when they’re done their shift of serving sick people?
Sad thing is most Caymanians aren’t crying about this situation because so few work at the hotels.
The resort bubble would endanger staff, and through them, the wider community. It would also require numerous flights that do not exist, and the effective closure of the beach to the public.
Offer a cost effective quarantine solution Marc. That is your only real option until widespread effective vaccinations are in place.
hire those who already had covid
Plenty of Caymanians in the tourism industry.
Think beyond this one hotel…front desk, reservations, housekeeping, restaurants, local bars, car rental agencies, snorkel operators, dive operators, stingray city operators, travel agents, etc. etc.
It’s not just one hotel, it’s the entire industry this Government has left hanging. $ 1,000 a month since the beginning of this, doesn’t even provide food for the month.
Meanwhile, civil servants still getting paid in full whether working full time or not.
And the rest of us NOT in tourism with a $1000 stipend or civil service on full pay have been living on zero income for almost 9 months now if we lost or job
Join the construction industry. It is booming and the pay is better!
Get um Marc.
Marc needs to Sthu. Not looking out for anyone but himself.