From GoToCayman.com - the Wiki for Cayman
GoToCayman.com - News from Cayman (ISSN: 1744-7690)
November 2006
The introduction of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) that requires visitors and returning residents entering the US to have passports has been postponed, but only until 23rd January 2007. You can see the latest details at the US Department of State website at http://travel.state.gov/travel/cbpmc/cbpmc_2223.html
Some interesting figures on the level of imports last year have been released.
The total value of goods imported in the Cayman Islands in 2005 amounted to SI$990.4 million (US$1.2 billion), of which nearly three quarters of a billion dollars worth of imports were from the US. The increase in imports is attributed to the reconstruction of the Islands in the aftermath of devastating Hurricane Ivan in September 2004.
Total imports rose by 36.4 per cent over 2004, with a pronounced increase in the importation of building materials and vehicles. In 2003 3,354 vehicles were imported (value $29.8 million). This rose to 5,172 in 2004 ($60 million). Last year this jumped to 8,407, valued at just under $100 million.
Cayman's main trading partner continued to be the United States of America, accounting for 76.5 percent or $757.8 million of the Islands' total imports last year. A distant second in overall imports for the year was Netherlands Antilles with 8.6 per cent valued at $85.6 million. The Netherlands was followed by Japan, with $10.5 million or 1.1 per cent; the UK and Jamaica, each with $6.9 million or 0.7 per cent; and Canada with $6.3 million or 0.6 per cent.
Six sharks have died whilst being held in quarantine tanks at Botswain Beach. All fish that are brought to the attraction have to be held in separate quarantine tanks for 30 days before being released into the attraction tanks. In this case there was a problem with the life support system that impacted the water quality. Commenting on the incident, Tourism Minister Charles Clifford said it was to be expected that some fish would die due to natural attrition. What is worrying the anti-dolphin campaigerns is his comment "We do expect that some of the dolphins will die at the facility, just as they die in the wild. It will happen".
With stiff competition from other destinations for tourist visitors, Cayman has been trying to improve it's service. In September and October, officials of the Department of Tourism and the Cayman Islands Tourism Association have been giving training to over 200 taxi drivers, dispatchers and tour operators in courses entitled "Discover Cayman" and "Standards of Excellence". The taxi and tour operators have now been issued with a uniform and Tourism Minister Hon Charles Clifford said that the staff are expected to wear the uniforms when on duty. Staff in other tourism sectors will also receive frontline training to increase professionalism.
There is more pressure on the Department of Environment to act on controlling Stingray City. At the end of last month, a divemaster was attacked and bitten by an eel at the divesite associated with Stingray City. Members of the dive had been given scraps of squid to feed to the rays and it appears that the eels was after these. At tleast two dive companies have stopped visiting this location and others have told staff not to feed or touch the eels. In response to these reports, Director of the Department of Environment, Gina Petrie said that amendments being considered to the Marine Conservation Law would prohibit the feeding of stingrays in the area. Under consideration is the creation of "Wildlife Interaction Zones" where the amount and type of food would be controlled as well as who carried out the feeding.
A report titled Economic Impact of Cruise Tourism on the Caribbean Economy was unveiled during the Florida Caribbean Cruise Association Conference held in Cayman at the start of the month. Figures showed that Cayman was fourth for direct cruise tourism expenditure during the 2005–2006 cruise year. The US Virgin Islands led all destinations with $362 million, followed by St. Maarten with $246 million, Cozumel with $214 million, and the Cayman Islands, with $180 million. Cayman was second in the list for numbers of cruise visitors with 1.67 million visitors behind Cozumel which had 1.71 million visitors. On average cruise visitors spen $82.73 in Cayman, ninth in the list with the highest level of income in the US Virgin Isaldns ($179.69 per passenger). Cruise lines spent an estimated $29.4 million in the Cayman Islands primarily on port fees and taxes. Cayman Islands cruise passengers had an average household income of $100,700.
