CRUISE LINES ON BOARD WITH CAYMAN’S PLAN

By Staff Writer

Cayman can look forward to continued growth in the cruise sector, notwithstanding the ‘No’ vote against a cruise pier in the April referendum(and election). That was the message delivered during the recent sitting of the Parliamentary Finance Committee.

Strong commitments from the Florida Caribbean Cruise Association are now being channelled into new strategies to improve the cruise visitor experience in Cayman, according to Hon. Minister for Transport(also Planning, Lands, Agriculture, Housing and Infrastructure), Johanny ‘Jay’ Ebanks.

Both Mr Ebanks and Hon. Min. for Tourism, Gary Rutty, represented Cayman at a recent FCCA convention in Puerto Rico during which they were assured by cruise lines that Cayman will remain a preferred port of call despite the absence of a cruise pier.

(See previous article RUTTY: STRONG PERFORMANCE AND PROMISING OUTLOOK FOR TOURISM)

Transport Minister Ebanks said there are many opportunities to be capitalised on to further grow the industry with a unique Caymanian flavour. These include expanding the cruise ship tender services, better utilising the main passenger facilities in George Town at the Royal Watler Pier, the North Terminal, and the South Terminal, as well as looking at opening up the Spotts area for occasional cruise ship calls.

While updating that cruise passenger pick-up and drop-off points in George Town will be enhanced and beautified, he said stricter controls will also be put in place, including revoking licences of some bus and taxi operators who fail to comply. That received an immediate supportive reaction from the MPs present.

TENDERING TO GET BIGGER

He reported that they heard from the cruise ship companies “how we can improve now that they know that the people’s mandate is that they do not want to build piers and how we can improve and enhance the safety of our guests, disembarking off the ship,” Min. Ebanks stated, responding to a question from the previous tourism minister Kenneth Bryan.

Crediting Mr Bryan for his efforts during his tenure, Min. Ebanks went on to detail how the National Coalition For Caymanians(NCFC) administration is now proceeding with developing the sector, guided by Minister of Tourism Gary Rutty.

“One thing that we are looking at now is that we are going to do all the pre-checks directly on-shore,” he stated. “Instead of the Customs and Immigration at the ship, we will have everyone disembark as quickly as possible and go through the checkpoints on shore.”

Much emphasis will also be placed on encouraging more investment in cruise ship tendering services, Mr Ebanks said, which further opens up opportunities to grow that sector supporting the cruise industry.

“One of the reasons why we are limited to the amount of ships that we have in harbour is because we don’t have enough tenders for all of the ships. So the mandate is going to be going forward, is that either we are going to look at making new millionaires in the country, or the people are going to make bigger investments.”

Doubling down on the urgency of the situation and the opportunities it presents, Mr Ebanks insisted, “We are not going to be held back by only having a certain amount of tenders in this country. We are going to enhance the tender process that we need to be able to get the people off the ships. The investments need to be made, because if that investment isn’t made, the member for tourism(Ed. Minister for Tourism) cannot bring the numbers up.”

Further explaining that the larger cruise ships need at least five tenders for passenger transfers, Transport Minister Ebanks said that would require “significant investments”.

“We are looking forward to working that out in the new year,” he added, stressing the return on investment not only for the tender operators but rippling through the wider economy.

REVENUE MEASURES

Mr Ebanks also disclosed that the cruise lines accepted that some increase in government fees was under consideration, but asked that they be advised well in advance for their own budget planning and scheduling.

“We are selling our product too cheap. I’ve made it known to all of the cruise lines with the Deputy Premier there that we are going to be looking at the way that we sell our product. They are happy about looking at the numbers. They just said, ‘Please don’t drop it on us within the next month or two...as we are already pre-booked out for a long period of time’. ”

CRUISING TO SPOTTS

Further cross-party table-pounding approval came when Mr Ebanks announced that opening up the Spotts area in the east for occasional cruise visits is being seriously considered.

“We are also going to be looking at how we can enhance the Spotts Dock so that improvements can be done there. In the future, we can actually have ships there on days when there is good weather, so that we can push the ‘Go East Initiative’ to get more tourists to the eastern side of the island.”