Loss-making Turtle Centre seeks to increase appeal

| 31/10/2024 | 50 Comments
Cayman Turtle Centre (Photo credit Mark Hardison)

(CNS): As the Cayman Turtle Centre in West Bay continues to lose millions of dollars every year, the beleaguered tourist attraction is looking for marketing experts to elevate its appeal, revamp the entire product, overhaul the website and help it make money, including encouraging donations. According to documents on the procurement website, the CTC is looking to develop new products and improve its existing ones to increase visitor satisfaction.

According to its 2021 annual report, the CTC, previously known as the Turtle Farm, continues to sell farmed meat, which makes up half of its revenue. Nevertheless, sales and production are in decline — a possible indication that tastes are evolving. Even though turtle stew is Cayman’s national dish and the farm sells at a loss to encourage those who still eat turtle not to poach or buy poached meat, consumption is declining.

However, the farming of an endangered animal remains controversial, and the CTC avoids the promotion of meat sales, focusing instead on promoting the facility as a tourist attraction. But ever since the redeveloped and enlarged centre opened in 2006, revenue through admissions has fallen far short of operating costs.

In 2021, ticket sales accounted for just 16% of revenue. Food, drink and merchandise make up 26% of the takings, and a very small amount of cash comes from donations for the farm’s release efforts. All of this combined brings in around $1.2 million, which is why it needs a massive cash injection year after year. According to the 2024/2025 budget, the CTC will be running an operating deficit this year of $9.5M and over $10M in 2025.

Against that backdrop, the CTC is looking for experts to redo almost every element of the facility. Officials said they want to completely overhaul the website, focusing on a full redesign to modernise the look, feel and functionality. It will include a payment portal and “a robust donation portal”.

Regardless of the farming of meat at the facility, the CTC has promoted its conservation credentials, having released turtle hatchlings into the sea for decades, which has had a significant impact on the number of turtles now nesting on Grand Cayman’s beaches.

However, there have been concerns in the past about disease, genetic mutations and other health-related problems at the facility, as well as questions about the safety of releasing farmed turtles into the ocean and the negative impact it may have on wild turtles.

Despite the many problems the centre faces, the aim now is to increase revenue. The conservation mission is expected to play a key part in the revamp, which will include new fundraising initiatives, PR opportunities, enhancement of the CTC’s retail products, and new experiences or programmes.

“The Cayman Turtle Conservation and Education Centre aims to increase revenue, improve visitor experience and strengthen the Centre’s brand presence,” officials said in the bid documents.

“The primary goal of the branding strategy is to position CTCEC as a premier destination that attracts stayover visitors, fosters enduring relationships with local patrons, and raises awareness of their conservation efforts. By achieving these objectives, CTCEC aims to enhance their reputation, drive visitor engagement, and support their mission of conservation and sustainability.”

The bid is open until 15 November.


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Category: Business, Marine Environment, Science & Nature, Tourism

Comments (50)

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  1. Anonymous says:

    They need a good George Town police detective like Chief Insp Courtney Mike’s to solve the disappearing Turtle Meat fiasco. Hurry too.
    Christmas is coming and this public shortage can’t continue!!

  2. Anonymous says:

    Bring back the ice cream shop, and more people will come. Bet. My grandma used to take my brothers and I for ice cream every Tuesday after school, and a number of times we made the trip to the turtle farm just for the ice cream. Honestly, I haven’t been there since that shop left.

  3. Debbie says:

    change the disgusting music to local music for a start. them last time I was there, I thaught it was a reggee concert. the vocals were fulger and young kids were listening to it

    • Anonymous says:

      Yardies run the food side and they squeeze out any local trying g to hold a job with good local service.
      Service attitude and music like from Halfway tree or Tivoli. I know them.

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  4. Anonymous says:

    That there isn’t a colossal championship level water park in Cayman is a big commercial blindspot. The Cayman Water should be running it as a CSR giveback.

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  5. Bob says:

    Even the green muck in the lagoon is a turn off, i wondered why it has been that way for years.

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  6. anon says:

    Well I hope they have got rid of all their dishonest staff for starters. If it’s any consolation their losses are dwarfed by CAL.

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    • Anonymous says:

      What about the mis-managers there tho!!
      Still holding on strong in their corners.
      No qualified locals want to work there now. How many managers there are from Africa and India now?
      The National Turtle Farm!!

  7. Anonymous says:

    Poor negotiations with cruise lines mean they keep the cream, and the cheap tourists flood in for a fraction.
    How many Turtle Farm managers and top execs have the gone through since covid alone!!
    Needs a good forensic audit. Where is Mr Miller?

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  8. Anonymous says:

    I never visited this particular tourist attraction in a long time. I desire to know that both locals and tourists can go out in droves to check out the park when they can book.

    Like the convivence of walking through Camana Bay on your days off from work, you have your favorite ice cream in one hand, waiting to go see a regal movie. The same delight can allure you to go visit the farm, with its host of perks like special prices on tickets for WB residents.

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  9. Anonymous says:

    Ask school kids what their favourite foods are. Turtle very very rarely ever gets mentioned…Popeyes, Burger King, pizzas, KFC etc etc. Ah so it go and it has been that way for at least 40 years. Turtle, conch and whelks are like that scratchy old fiddle music….great for those of us trying to keep a sense of culture and heritage going, but not in the slightest interest to young Caymanians today.

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  10. Anonymous says:

    I agree with the comment for the water park.

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  11. Anonymous says:

    free money making solution:
    sell it and be done with it.
    to many it’s a disturbing vile facility.

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    • Anonymous says:

      From an obvious expat

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    • Anonymous says:

      Agree. Sell it to the private sector that will be motivated to make it better so it is profitable. The current management has 0 interest in attracting more people to come because they know they will get bailed out by government even if they make zero money.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Great idea, I am sure there is a line of private buyers for a business that has never made money and is basically a job creation project for West Bay.

  12. Anonymous says:

    Redesigning the website won’t do anything if the core product is broke. I like taking my kids to the turtle farm slide and pool and seeing the birds and turtles a couple of times a year. But there’s not enough to do to keep us coming back. And the service and food in the restaurant is dreadful. Absolutely no customer service inkling whatsoever. I complained to the revolving door of restaurant managers several times but even they said they felt defeated because management and ownership do not view it as a problem. It’s sad because the turtle farm could be so much better if only the people in charge were willing to make real changes to be more customer focused. A brand new website ain’t it.

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    • Anonymous says:

      So true. the food is mediocre but the attitudes and very low service standards mean that me and my frequent overseas guests go to enjoy a nice lunch or brunch somewhere for about the same cost, and then go visit the Turtle Farm.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Very well said

  13. Charles says:

    If the government is smart it will take this business out back and put a bullet in its head. It’s an aweful tourist destination and as turtle farm that breeds turtles to be slaughtered for meat and is gussied up as a “conservation organization” is an embarrassment to this country.

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    • Anonymous says:

      So the 500+ turtles they release each year is just a nothing? While surely the place could manage better financially I fail to see how it is an embarrassment to the country. I guess everyone is entitled to their opinion.

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  14. Bubba Gump says:

    Turn it into a state of the art water park. Or release the turtles and turn it into a shrimp farm. Sell shrimp to the hotel.

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  15. Anonymous says:

    Governing is tough, balancing a budget harder still.
    Perpetual loss makers need to cut costs, not increase them.
    Start with the expense level that allows for break-even at current revenues, then work out how best to get there.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Start by comparing how much turtle is butchered and how much is actually sold

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      • Anonymous says:

        mostly bone and fat. Can’t even get any good meat there nowadays unless you go to their own staff there who buy most of it to cook and sell hundreds of pounds of meat on the side each monthly.

      • Anonymous says:

        Disappears out the side door to friends and family, along with a shell too (what do they do with them?). Seen it several times in the past, particularly in the lead up to Christmas. They get cheap turtle, worker (not the TC) pockets the cash. Anyone claims this is untrue is either blind or lying.

  16. Anonymous says:

    Well, when you close on public holidays, one of the times you can make money from residents, what do you expect? It is also a great event venue. Why is CIG not making money from that? So many other things they could if real effort was put in.

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  17. Anonymous says:

    Please just spend the money on people not turtles. The NAU is chronically underfunded. How much good could you do with $10m?

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    • Anonymous says:

      you understand that we have enough money for both right? Cayman is wealthy enough to literally throw money at problems until they go away, NAU isn’t underfunded because the budget is tight, its underfunded because its a system that’s designed to fail.

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  18. Anonymous says:

    For one thing. the high ups are paid too big salaries. why pay some one/ones big, big money to lose money ,

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  19. Anonymous says:

    Many Caymanians still fail to understand just how little genuine conservation has been achieved in modern times, and how monumentally uncool that place is from almost every angle….still serving turtle burgers. Shut it down, or turn it into a genuine conservation facility that could pass international NGO grant and/or sponsorship tests.

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  20. Anonymous says:

    The place is okay to visit with my family. The kids like the slide and to see the animals but that doesn’t last long. There is a huge amount of space to create something more enticing to us all. Start with a much better playground. There is only a tiny place for small kids.

    Let’s be honest though, the place is too big and offers very little. Nice gift shop though.

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  21. Anonymous says:

    Improve the experience at reception. Last time it looked and felt exactly like customs

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    • Anonymous says:

      Ruder than Customs with the West Bay “I’m gonna getcha” Honduran-Caymanian edge. We are just here to show the kids some turtles, can we chill please?

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  22. Anonymous says:

    Legalize the boom draw within the CTC precinct. Grow some high quality weed at the farm and employ locals to show the tourist how to rolls spliffs and they could be on their way to profit in no time.
    In no time at all the other MPs will be demanding to have designated smoke-free areas, as in no fear of being arrested, in their own districts. All of the weed-heads will be happily employed, crime will drop drastically, and there will be no need to build a new prison.

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  23. Anonymous says:

    That whole area by the failed car museum, turtle farm and the dolphin captivity place looks like a derelict shambles. Hard to see where the money went.

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  24. Anonymous says:

    It’s groundhog day again

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