Where are our priorities?
MDR writes: The decision by the Cayman Islands Department of Tourism to award a US$12.3 million contract to an overseas company to create a global brand to market the Cayman Islands as a luxury destination has raised significant concerns. This move comes at a time when the cost of living in the Cayman Islands is rapidly consuming the local people, with many struggling to make ends meet.
The number of individuals being assisted by the Needs Assessment Unit (NAU) is at an all-time high and continues to grow, highlighting the increasing socioeconomic challenges faced by locals.
The focus on building a brand that targets the elite and promotes luxurious developments in the Cayman Islands raises questions about the government’s priorities. While attracting high-end tourists and investors may bring in revenue, it is essential to consider the impact on the local community. The emphasis on luxury tourism could further widen the gap between the wealthy and the struggling locals, exacerbating social inequality.
Furthermore, the decision to pedestrianise George Town to accommodate the cruise industry, under the guise of “revitalisation” is causing significant inconvenience for the local community in regards to traffic and access to businesses in those areas. The increased traffic gridlock during the week due to the roads being closed, allowing foot traffic only, has disrupted daily life for residents and businesses in the area.
It is crucial to consider the needs and well-being of the local population when making decisions that affect their daily lives. It’s always been a challenge to find parking in the George Town area and now even more so. With roads being closed, where will people go to park and come into Town?
Despite the fact that cruise ship passengers only account for 20% of revenue in the tourism sector, the government is seemingly forging ahead with plans that prioritise the needs of everyone but those of the local community. This unbalanced approach raises concerns about the government’s commitment to supporting its own people and ensuring sustainable development that benefits all residents of the Cayman Islands.
In conclusion, the decision to award a lucrative contract for global branding to promote the Cayman Islands as a luxury destination is absolutely ridiculous. Meanwhile, neglecting the struggles of the local population and prioritising the needs of everyone else over the islands’ residents is a worrying development.
The government must reconsider its approach and ensure that policies and initiatives are in place to address the pressing socioeconomic challenges faced by the people of the Cayman Islands. Sustainable development should take into account the needs of both locals and tourists, fostering a balanced and equitable future for all.
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Category: Business, Community, Local News, Tourism, Viewpoint
The new agency costing $12.3 million was for a global agency. As soon as this was signed the D.O.T signs another contract for the U.K. and Europe!.
“A statesman thinks of the next generation, a politician only of the next election”.
We have many brilliant Caymanians, yet few with the bravery to choose to think long term.
Over 20 years ago the overall CIDOT marketing budget was cUS$20m, so it is nothing new to have a budget of this scale. What is different is that back then we needed to build up tourism after 9/11, including filling the shoulder and low seasons.
That is no longer the situation. The island is now effectively full, hotels can charge what they like and we have many hundreds of AirBnBs (which also push up rental rates for local residents).
In short, we don’t need a marketing budget anywhere near this big if we look at the big picture. I’d therefore start with cutting the budget for marketing to the UK and Europe to… zero… and forget about extending the runway at ORIA. We simply don’t need long haul visitors for an overheated tourism economy where c90% of our visitors come from North America.
This is just one example of looking at the long term to inform current budget decisions.
I’d also add:
– Education – our public education system is broken, lets start from scratch and look at global best practice.
– Housing – build, baby, build, but also build for locals and lower earners, incentives that type of building and add costs to those building for the wealthy.
if u not working for minimum wage…then u will have to be a millionaire to live here…thats the message…plus added fact that billionaires own a big chunk now…caymanians wont survive here! zzzz
Dont forget the private airport lounge that is to be constructed from the increase airline tax. Rich people benefit at the expense of the poor. When are we going to hold these politicians accountable?
8:56. Don’t forget the parking debacle at the airport that the Governor had to sort out.
We have such incompetent chairs on these private sector boards.
Notice if you are employed and spend all morning listening and commenting on CMR you are stealing time from your employer.
FYI – he is a partner in the firm and therefore owns the company.
Try again and get the facts straight before you spread propaganda
I am proud to say I have never listened to a CMR newscast/report and do not follow them on social media. In fact I have them blocked.
CMR is toxic and nothing more than Cayman’s local version of “The Enquirer”
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How about knocking down the old Glass House that has been abandoned for years and out in a parking lot? !
Restore it to become the Museum.
How feasible might it be to clean it out, strip the UV film from the glass, and fit it out as a Government-funded hydroponics farm for working towards food security for our island?
Yeah, we’re overloaded with valuable historical artifacts that people are dying to see and nowhere to put them.
9.14am How about the Govt Admin Building?.
Make it into a House of Horrors. Plenty of exhibits from next door.
The longer the glasshouse stays erect the bigger the risk in times of hurricanes. Beryl could be a peril. CIG procrastination is the thief of time.
I no longer vote in elections or complain about what these Muppets do. I realized it was a frustrating waste of time leading to successive administrations worse than the previous.
My energy now is self centered and focused on all I can squeeze out of my island before it is totally consumed by greed.
I didn’t always feel this way but screw caymankind, nobody being kind to me as a Caymanian.
As someone who has always had to vote in a single member constituency from before the OMOV disaster, I can tell you that I stopped voting many elections ago. That was because my choice was only ever between a lunatic or a madman. And sometimes the best candidate was both.
I know what you mean. In my area the voting choice is between two pieces of excrement. One stinks less than the the other but their both shit.
No thank you.
An unfortunate truth. A similar mind set is also shared, seemingly, by many politicians. Squeeze as much out of their position while they can.
The unfortunate part is that, while i’m Caymanian and Cayman is my home, i can always (if needs must) go elsewhere. I’m xxx and Caymanian. Many generational Caymanians cannot.
Bye Bye! You don’t want to assist Cayman to be better, so long.
Assist all you want but it won’t make things better in Cayman. There are good people out there but sadly that’s the minority.
Good luck, wise up, get yours before it’s too late.
“…get yours before it’s too late…” Greed is mainly (and uneducation) why Cayman is such a mess. Evidently your attitude is part of the problem. No, I will keep working to assist Cayman to be better.
Same here, nothing to vote for. It is a corrupt government and there is not one single member who will stand to fight it. We just have to learn to live in a corrupt society and a restricted crap pension while government pisses away public funds in order to serve themselves. A government that cared for its people would put that 12 million in a pension fund.
What we have is a total lack of understanding of the local economy. The policymakers at CIG are studiously ignorant in this regard.
CIG functions largely off the back of the financial services industry. It is those revenues that allow it to be wantonly profligate and to subsidise the tourism sector.
And that is the real point. CIG needs to stop wasting money and resources on a business sector that relies primarily on imported minimum wage workers and causes an undue burden on the local population and infrastructure.
The proof is that during the pandemic shut down the financial services sector kept chugging away with no need of government assistance and, in fact, kept the economy as buoyant as ever and immeasurably better off than anywhere else in the region.
You should charge CIG $250K for this analysis given it is better advice than anything else they have received.
Hey what about building a parking garage in that empty lot across from Sandbar instead of paving it with stupid bricks so maybe more than 12 cars can park there!
25 @ 2:13pm – Nevermind that! I was told by security that that parking lot is exclusively for tenants of Dart’s businesses. Not the customers of those tenants, but the tenants. Forget the customers!
So let Dart develop it!!
How about Sandbar use their Carpark as it was approved to be used to park cars. Instead they’re allowed to build on it. Same as Westin. Not enough parking spaces but can build in Carpark and then have even less.
Corruption in Government is one of the major factors affecting countries in our region. This is not to suggest that the contract that the article speaks about was corruptly awarded, on the contrary, it was awarded transparently through a legal procurement process and for the right reasons.
Now contrast this to duty waivers on high end luxury sports cars to further clog up our already burdened infrastructure while depriving the Treasury of the revenue it depends upon to support the local people the write seems to seek to support. Imagine contract awarded in the 2009 – 2013 administration for scrap metal, trucking and other deals and how that robbed money from the Treasury for needy Caymanians.
I am much more concerned about those things than the Department of Tourism doing its job and promoting the Cayman Islands for the tourism market. Some people should just be grateful they are walking around free instead of being in jail for their corrupt history instead of castigating well intended people simply seeking to do their jobs.
You are entitled to your perspective. For me this latest boondoggle at our expense is yet another example of misdirected priorities and incompetence that ought to lead to people being fired.
Before making judgments about others, make sure your hands are clean. Another quote that may apply to the writer of the article is “toxic people project their own character defects onto their victims. They do this by accusing the victim of the exact actions they themselves do but deny.” I am so glad that Wes made the decision he did and prevented the writer from running to represent us in Newlands at the last election. We definitely do not need him or his way of thinking in public office.
The writer is desperate for relevance. They cannot not accept that the majority of public see him for the car wreck and menace to society that he is.
Warning should be avoided at all costs.
CIG must be viewed by these companies as the biggest bunch of suckers on earth. They will buy anything using our money if it comes with a free trip somewhere and a photo-op.
Our current politicians show no evidence of thinking of anyone but themselves. Their priorities are certainly not ours.
The priorities of ordinary Caymanians are of limited interest to those in control of the current government.
Take our broken road infrastructure for example. Our political leaders will not deal with the root causes such as out of control development with developers contributing nothing to infrastructure costs and instead passing those costs to ordinary Caymanians with the help of our politicians. Similarly our current political leaders will do nothing to confront the social and infrastructure costs of importing tens of thousands of foreign workers who are flooding into Cayman to keep the wages of Caymanians at a bare subsistence level while they build developments for non-residents in order to make a handful of developers even more rich.
Big mistake by Moses Trump in hiring Rosa. Bigger mistake yet of having Kenny as minister of tourism. Both Kenny and Rosa need to lose their positions as quickly as possible.
Excellent timely Viewpoint!
You are absolutely right. The current crop of politicians focuses entirely on what rich developers and business owners want and have no interests in the plight of Caymanians and other residents.
stupid voters voted them in. Always remember the voters are the ones that gave the policiations their jobs