First CIG report released on state of cruise tourism
(CNS): The Economics and Statistics Office has released a report on the impact of cruise tourism on Cayman’s economy, based on data from the Florida Caribbean Cruise Association, the Port Authority of the Cayman Islands and the Department of Tourism. The document looks at government revenue from cruise tourism, how much passengers spend while ashore, the jobs it supports and the anticipated decline over the coming years.
Some of the figures are imprecise estimates based on passenger information, the limited data that cruise lines are willing to share, or guesstimates about the future of the cruise industry. However, the report outlines a clear decline in Cayman Islands Government revenue from passenger tax and that fewer passengers will result in a drop in money being spent in the economy.
The report, released during a press briefing on Wednesday, is the first published document setting out why the UPM administration supports building some kind of cruise pier to prevent what Tourism Minister Kenneth Bryan said will be the steady decline of cruise tourism before it eventually “dwindles to nothing”.
According to the report, cruise passenger arrivals are expected to fall by 4.8% in 2024 before increasing by 5.2% in 2025. Arrivals then are projected to decline by an average of 5.2% annually in the ensuing years. Gross value added is projected to drop to $128.9 million, or 1.8% of GDP, by 2029.
The total supported jobs are projected to decline by an aggregated 19.3% between 2023 and 2029, dropping from around 2,580 jobs to 1,169. CIG revenue from cruise ships is projected to fall by an average of 4.3% annually after 2025.
The report begins the government-funded campaign relating to one of three questions voters will be asked: whether or not it should build an unspecified cruise berthing facility. Bryan has claimed that the campaign will be fair because it will present arguments for and against the idea, even though he and his UPM colleagues all support constructing cruise berthing facilities.
Those opposing cruise berthing say the environmental damage, the cost, the strain on infrastructure and tourism attractions, and the negative impact on overnight guests and residents amount to too high a price to pay for the limited benefits enjoyed by some operators and retailers.
During a press briefing on Wednesday about the report, ESO Senior Economist Ralstan Henry said that it was not possible to say precisely how many of the estimated 2,580 jobs relating to cruise tourism are dependent on cruise passengers alone, as almost all of them also cater to overnight guests and residents. A notable exception is the tender pilots, who would lose their jobs anyway if the piers were built.
The CIG is also unable to say exactly how many Caymanians are employed in the cruise sector, but the report concluded that the rate of employment for Caymanians in the retail sector overall is 43%, while 47% of those working in the excursion-related fields are believed to be local.
However, it is not known how many of these workers are also supported by overnight visitors and residents or how the imbalance toward permit holders may prevent the loss of any jobs held by locals. The government is also unable to say how much the cruise lines take from the price of the excursions they sell and how much is left for local tour operators.
The statistics show that spending by cruise passengers was already in decline in 2019 when the highest number of cruise passengers visited the Cayman Islands in the country’s history. The total amount spent by passengers on Grand Cayman fell to $166.8M from a high of $178.1M in 2018.
Since then, this figure has declined even more to just $132.8 million last year. However, given how the cruise sector is changing, it is difficult for the CIG to justify the claim that the piers will return spending to previous levels. Cruise ships already do all they can to keep passengers on board for as much of the trip as possible, and they are now adding more private islands to the call schedule, dropping traditional ports.
Constructing piers would allow passengers to get on and off ships more easily. This means they would be much more likely to return to the ship for a free lunch instead of spending money in a restaurant or bar on shore.
Nevertheless, the report gives the public an idea of how the CIG sees the economic impact of declining cruise tourism, what it means for the public purse and the broader impact on GDP.
But as the sector gradually declines, it is impossible to say how many Caymanians will lose their jobs or small businesses, especially as the tourism ministry expects an increase in overnight guests in the coming years.
Over the last few years, the number of new hotel, condo and Airbnb beds being added to the country’s room stock has increased significantly, and three more hotels are expected to open over the next year or so.
Speaking about the report, Bryan said it showed that over time, the continued reduction in cruise calls to Grand Cayman will cause severe negative impacts on the economy “through the loss of millions of dollars in revenue” as well as the loss of Caymanian jobs and Caymanian-owned businesses that support the cruise sector.
“As a government, we believe that building a pier would be in the long-term best interest of the Cayman Islands, as it would sustain our cruise tourism industry for years to come,” Bryan stated. “However, this is not a decision that the government intends to make alone. We want to hear from the people what their perspective is, and that is why having a referendum on this issue as soon as possible is vitally important.”
He said that the Department of Communications has developed a draft plan that will be expanded to cover all three subject areas in the referendum. The campaign will provide balanced information on the pros and cons of each issue, he said.
Bryan added that there will be a televised national debate between individuals standing for
and against the cruise pier, allowing both sides to articulate their respective positions. A video will be produced highlighting the pros and cons of all three referendum questions, and a website will be launched to serve as a central hub for all referendum-related information alongside information on social media channels.
“It is vital that every Caymanian, regardless of how they choose to access information, can find the answers they need. I cannot stress enough how important it is that everyone is fully informed before heading to the polls,” he said.
“I am also aware that the public has lots of questions, such as questions about the economic impact of the cruise industry and about Caymanian employment in this sector, among others… Rest assured, we will continue to engage with the public, answer your questions, and ensure that you are fully equipped to make informed choices,” the minister added.
See the report in the CNS Library and see today’s briefing on CIGTV YouTube below:
- Fascinated
- Happy
- Sad
- Angry
- Bored
- Afraid
Thank you CIG for the report. I started looking through it and was soon able to find the information I needed to know how to vote. It was right there on page 9, the Comparative Comparison of Cruise Arrivals. (A graph, also proving that a picture is worth a thousand words, though I will attempt to summate it in less.)
– Pre-COVID Cayman had high cruise numbers
– COVID – everyone’s cruise numbers dropped off precipitously
– Post-COVID cruise numbers have begun to recover, and
— Cayman’s is still ne of the highest, and
— No one’s has returned to anywhere near the pre-COID numbers.
Therefore,
a) comparisons to post-COVID are false as even with piers no one has gotten back there, so anyone saying that we should worry we are still below pre-C levels is being deliberately misleading, and
b) even without piers our cruise numbers are still among the best so clearly piers are unnecessary.
Thank you CIG for proving, with your own statistics, that the only logical vote is to vote No. – I look forward to the CIG’s anti-port education campaign to explain this to those people out in Town today who can’t understand the actual numbers of their own industry.
It is particularly embarrassing to get to the end of the report and discover that the argument for piers is predicated upon “A scenario where Cayman had returned to its peak number of visits for 2024” – a scenario that has no basis in reality anywhere in the Caribbean based on this very report. But that’s the make-believe reason for building a port. – Vote No. The facts (not impossible scenarios) of Government’s own report says so.
Fix the damn beach first!
A report compiled by parties that stand to gain! Not balanced at all.
I will not ever vote yes on a project that has no budget, no outline, no design, not contingent operations layout and no plane for environmental damage mitigation.
CIG is demanding the people hand them a blank check and then keep silent while they do as they please.
This entire thing is an exercise in contempt by CIG.
No.
Vote No !
Cruise pier projects offer huge opportunities for corrupt politicians to profit – that is the real impetus. Nothing in the report matters.
Ask the FCO why they stepped in the stop the CHEC deal…
You will find that our usual suspect’s explanation will greatly vary from the facts.
Back in the days of Trumanomics, we were told that cruise ship passengers spent an average of $50 a day on shore here. No one ever came up with any proof of this figure, it was just pulled from out of someone’s ass. It was very likely nonsense then and they are still probably not spending anything like enough money to justify the terrible impact of these huge ships and their legions of passengers cluttering up our infrastructure.
These Ministry of Finance “advisors” will tailor anything to match what Cabinet wants. They will justify anything! Especially those who are on WP!
By their own figures LESS than 50% of tourism workers are Caymanians.
Simple solution … reduce cruise visitors by 50% and employ only Caymanians .
The foreign employees leave, streets in GT are quieter, public beach is freed up, 50% higglers go back to Jamaica.
Wouldn’t that be marvellous.?
Only a 1.9% contribution to GDP..!
How many Caymanians received the watersports stipen during Covid? that should tell us how many Caymanians approxmitely are employed in it.
But it won’t tell you how many are actually dealing (exclusively) with cruise-shippers.
We should have been concentrating on what cayman offers cruise ship passengers for years now. Relying on them buying jewelery and buying rum cakes is never good. Many places in the Caribbean offer much more entertainment. Also prices are much more reasonable with beautiful waters too. Our so called leaders caught napping again. Cayman aint all that like it or not. Truth hurts I know
Add crowded and VERY expensive to your list Elvis, and it’s going to be worse.
Public beach and pushy vendors is a disgrace that Cayman should be ashamed of.
Trouble is, the Higglers are now voters as well so those in government who have the power to clean up the mess, are afraid of losing votes.
Our robust law enforcers should not be concerned with popularity. Just enforcing the laws!
beautiful waters and beaches. meanwhile our beaches continue to diminish.
I can now buy rum cakes in my local stores, so that is not even just a Cayman thing anymore.
Not that I wish any ill will to any ship but if heaven forbid a fire broke out on a ship at anchor it would be the ships responsibility for the situation. If a ship is docked at a pier who’s responsibility does it become? How would our meager fire service assets respond and cope?
Cruise Ships have fire protection systems far more complex and regulated than Cayman does.
This sounds like one of the FCCA half-truths that are oh-so-common during these disinformation campaigns. What you say is true only when the ships are registered in locations where those laws are applicable. Which is to say, very few of them actually operate at those standards. They more often than not register in foreign lands so that they can circumvent the expensive safety protocols required. For example, go look up how Carnival gets around having VMOB alert systems on so many of their ships.
Anyone who wants a dose of cruise ship reality can go to cruiselawnews.com
I’m Caymanian & I wouldn’t recommend Cayman to anyone certainly not over other Caribbean islands like Bahamas, Barbados, Turks & Jamaica. Instead of focusing on this our tourism minister should work on enhancing the product. It’s not good value for money & the island has lost its charm. It’s concrete everywhere & our beaches are poorly cared for.
Google cruise ship fire and you can read what actually happens.
What about sunday trading as in open the supermarkets on the referendum?
What would this achieve? can you not shop in the other 6 days?
Who he now? Don’t know exact figures…’guesstimates’ is the norm in CIG + offices/ authorities.
If this flimsy report (conveniently released during Kenny’s CIG sponsored port campaign) is the best they got to justify a pier, this makes the decision a simple one! Vote No.
let’s not forget the main reason they want this pier. The cruise ship passengers each pay a fee to leave the ship and land in Cayman. The government makes literal fortunes just bringing these tourists on shore. The port would make it easier for more people to leave the ship and for the government to collect more money.
As for benefit for the island, the jobs in tourism are very low paid and most waterspout companies are mostly staffed by foreigners. The cruise ship itself sells the excursions amd keeps most of the money spent so even the local business owners get very little money from all their hard work.
The port would be good for the government and the cruise ships and that’s about it.
let’s not forget the main reason they want this pier. The cruise ship passengers each pay a fee to leave the ship and land in Cayman.
The cruise ship passenger tax is based on the number of passengers on the cruise, which more than likely they lie like hell about, whether they come ashore or not.
What we really need is a passenger tax for passing through our territorial waters.
I think of cruise as visitors who drop in for day to sample what we offer here, before returning as overnight tourists. Half the condo owners along SMB were probably first introduced to our Country as a result of cruise, or a friend’s recommendation stemming from cruise. We want to find a way to build those cruise piers and keep tourists and investors of the future interested in orbiting back here for an overnight visit.
Did the three totally independent bodies, being the Florida Caribbean Cruise Association, the Port Authority of the Cayman Islands and the Department of Tourism come up with that “half the condo owners” stat or did you pick a random figure out of thin air?
Not out of thin air 1:29, out of the rear end of his anatomy.
That was the good old days. You’d need to provide stats for your argument on any cruise passenger the last 10 years returning and having funds to invest to retire in Cayman or even buy an Airbnb. It’s too damn expensive!
I think of cruise as visitors who drop in for day to sample what we offer here, before returning as overnight tourists.
Sounds like a good reason NOT to return. What do you sample on the cruise? Overcrowded shops, street hustlers yelling at you, obnoxious taxi drivers trying to fit as many people as possible into a single vehicle, and you paid $100 to be carried to the sandbar on a cattle boat in order to mix with hundreds of people from other cattle boats.
Jamaican and Honduran street hustlers yelling at you.
Be fair. They have to be loud to be heard over the obnoxious music being played by Indian jewelry salespersons.
The hustling is awful. It never used to happen and I’d love to see the sales staff for these water sports companies leave.
Maybe back in the day when real estate prices were lower, but I would bet my right ear(?) that the Carnival cruisers of today are NOT going to be shelling out $10million dollars on a unit at Lacovia…
Dude, your thinking is flawed. Those cruise ships offer 7-14 day all inclusive cruises for the cost of two or three nights in a Cayman hotel. Those recommendations you speak of will rarely result in a hotel stay unless they win the lottery. In fact, the odds of them winning the lottery are probably better!
Many ‘cruise to stay over conversion’ programs have been attempted over the years (decades)- very low success rate.
Not the same clientele.
Cruise piers are not the solution for Cayman.
The beaches are gone, and there is nothing left for the cruise passengers to do it seems. Where do they go now that Indigo and kimpton have assumed the main public beach? Calico Jacks is gone and Royal Palms has fallen into the sea…so how does all this help cruise line passengers?
Where does the minister expect them to go or do? Building piers means they walking back on for the lunch they already paid for during booking.
Exactly – making it easier to come off also makes it easier to get back on where they can eat and drink to their hearts’ content. Besides, the controlled offloading is a blessing right now – can you imagine twice as many passengers being able to all come off at once and flooding Harbour Drive???
Thank you, thank you for calling it Harbour Drive rather than the totally unnecessary Seafarers Way!
It’s getting hard for stay over tourists to find something to do let alone cruise tourists. If you don’t want to go to a bar at night, what is there to do?
Typical – there is no consideration given to having a cruise sector based on very high end 100 – 500 passenger cruise ships that carry passengers who might buy more than a made in China $5 souvenir.
Big Mac refers to the low-end passengers as “Sangwich Eatahs”.
Cayman is an expensive island, not so much a high end island. There is a difference.
The impact of losing the cruise sector was demonstrated during Covid. The economy did well, the public beaches were accessible by Caymanians,
the environment began to recover, traffic in the downtown core was manageable, stress levels were down – I say don’t build the cruise port now and re-evaluate the situation in 25 years…. or maybe never.
Poor Kenny is the master of double talk he must think the public are as crazy as him
Terrifying that Kenneth Bryan is anywhere near anything of this scale given his ineptitude and lack of education.
How are multi-convicted (and others like him)still allowed to run for office, handle public money, sign off on project spending, direct policy, shape legislation, occupy the Parliamentary building, while collecting high 6 figures comp, and a forever Honorable title? Make it make sense Cayman. If nothing else, please limit who can stand to those that haven’t been convicted of serious crimes, theft, violence, or other dishonesty, ie implementation of the Nolan Principles.
Kenneth no longer has a police record.
Kenny is still a twice found guilty criminal no matter how you try to spin it.
FOLLOW the $$$$
Allowing the cruise lines to bully CIG into building piers will be a grave mistake for this country.
It is absolutely disgusting to see CIG dancing like captive monkeys to the organ grinders of the local duty free and concession owners. The fact that CIG cannot even provide precise numbers to back up the flimsy business case shows you that the entire dock scheme is built on muddy grounds and murky depths. The cruise industry simply does not warrant the massive expense and environmental dangers associated with an engineering project of the scale being demanded.
The UPM/PACT stooges and their pretend King of the Ocean Sea Kenny B need to be voted out. And the higher ups in the administrative sector of CIG, from the Governor and DG to the COs need to step up and start acting as something more than rubber stamps for the politicians.
not too much different than asking tobacco companies if smoking is bad for your health..
“But as the sector gradually declines, it is impossible to say how many Caymanians will lose their jobs or small businesses, especially as the tourism ministry expects an increase in overnight guests in the coming years.”
This is all I need to see. CIG knows exactly what these numbers are but it does not support their narrative. The jobs lost will be WP holders.
Bottom line, the cruise lines want to go to the Cayman Islands simply because it attracts potential cruisers as part of the itinerary. What they make on excursions etc is nothing more than the gravy beyond the cruise ticket price and us the servers.
Focus on stayover and eco tourism.
Good riddance to the cruise ships.
Nah. Too many crappy drivers as is.
You don’t think that is where they are going with the vote on gambling? If we legalize it, the ships can stay in port overnight… Wait til that nugget gets out there. Right now the ships leave so they can hit open waters and open the casinos and make more money…But if they could open while in port, they could stay longer…
They could. But they will not. Because they want the guest back on board where the money is spent with them, not risk leaving any more of it in-country than they have to.
References to Caymanians employed in the cruise sector appear grossly exaggerated. Holding an RERC or even a “Cayman” passport, does not mean you are Caymanian!
Even many of the Caymanians in the industry are recently imported foreign citizens. How some of them became Caymanian is in itself an issue.
If the government cannot give us accurate numbers we should not be entertaining them.
There is no such thing as a Caymanian. Can’t the BOTC’s all just get along?
There is very much such a thing as a Caymanian, and your refusal to allow some deference to the vey people that welcomed you to their land will have very negative consequences.