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GoToCayman.com - News from Cayman (ISSN: 1744-7690)

December 2007

Members of the Overseas Countries and Territories Association (OCTA) have unanimously elected the Cayman Islands to chair and host its annual ministerial meeting in 2008.

The OCTA has 17 members. They are Anguilla; Aruba; British Virgin Islands; Cayman Islands; Falkland Islands; French Polynesia; Greenland; Mayotte; Montserrat; Netherlands Antilles; New Caledonia; Pitcairn; St. Helena and dependencies; St. Pierre and Miquelon; French Southern and Antarctic Territories; Turks and Caicos Islands; Wallis and Futuna. The OCTA has a website at http://www.octassociation.org

November 2007

From 1st November, the Hyatt Hotel have ceased their involvement with running Rum Point. Rum Point Investment Ltd. will take over management of the property. There were 20 Hyatt staff members working at the Rum Point location and a majority of those have decided they want to stay on working at Rum Point under the new management. General Manger of the Hyatt, Diego Concha, recently said the Rum Point staff would be given options such as staying on at Rum Point under new management if they so wished, or to return to work at the hotel, or some might choose to go elsewhere. Adrien Briggs, co–owner of the site said that under the new management there is very little that will change about the property, and they are even hoping that they won't have to close down during the change–over.

One aspect of change that hopefully will take place is the plan to get the Rum Point restaurant open for the winter season. The restaurant has been out of commission since Hurricane Ivan struck Grand Cayman in September 2004. "We're trying to get the restaurant open for the coming winter but we have no timetable on that for the moment," Mr. Briggs said.

There are no current plans to reopen the ferry service that has not run since Ivan. However, he did say there are plans for some evening sails from the west side of the island to Rum Point, but not as a scheduled ferry service.

Red Sail Sports will remain operating at the property.


The Public Transport Board approved a $1 increase on the base taxi fare, raising it from CI$7 to $8 and also approved a 20 per cent increase on the mileage and hourly rates from November. Taxi fares were last increased in 2002.


After a public meeting to discuss options, work on the proposed wall to stop storm flooding in the Savannah Gully area is likely to go ahead. Under the plan, the wall will stretch almost 2,000 feet, at a height of between two to seven feet above ground. Engineers from US based engineering firm Orth–Rodgers and associates told the meeting the floodwall will prevent about 96% of the water from overtopping in a direct hit from a Category 2 hurricane, and more that 90% effective for a Category 3 hurricane approaching Grand Cayman from the south.

The Atlantic department store has reopened at the newly constructed Governors Square on West Bay Road. The original store on the waterfront in George Town was destroyed by Hurricane Ivan, and afterwards the store moved temporarily to one of the malls in George Town. The new store is 9,000 square feet and sells features men's and ladies' clothing, shoes, accessories, gifts, party goods and artwork.

Cayman Airways have started work on rebranding their aircraft. The first 737-300 has returned to service after a 'C' check and major overhaul in Costa Rica with the new livery. The tail fin now features part of the Cayman Islands coat of arms, with Sir Turtle now on the side of the plane near the loading doors (see http://www.caymanairways.com/company/news_and_alerts.php?mode=show&ak=136). Sir Turtle's head has been spun around on the starboard side of the aircraft for the sake of conformity with the rest of the logo. The interior of the plane has also been updated, with Sir Turtle head rest covers and the coat of arms depicted on the walls.

Board Chairperson Angelyn Hernandez said "We wanted to enhance Sir Turtle and his role and we needed to anchor our aircraft with something which identified our fleet anywhere it was seen, with the Cayman Islands. We needed to demonstrate that we are a proud and bold country. We believe that the design of the coat of arms flying high on our tail with all the glorious colours is such a representation".

Over the next year other aircraft will get their new identity as they go in for the industry mandated 'C' checks. Other aspects of the brand enhancement campaign, such as uniforms, stationary, business cards, ticket counters, web-site, advertisements, vehicles and signage will be gradually updated.

October 2007

Minister for Education Alden McLaughlin announced that an extra year will be added to the public-school system, to be used for technical and vocational training. At a Chamber of Commerce luncheon he said "No one should leave the high-school system and go straight into work. We are going to add another year to high school so no one leaves without a skill. Some sort of post-secondary training will enable everyone to leave the system with some skill. "We have never had difficulty attracting students to things like law, accounting and business; the difficulty we are having is with 70% of students acquiring the skills, qualifications and interest to allow them to take up some kind of technical and vocational educational training."

He added that the new national curriculum would become mandatory in the Cayman Islands' 19 public schools and among their 4,600 students in September 2008. It aims to shift traditional teaching patterns away from rote blackboard learning to a more dynamic, interactive and flexible style, improving learning and producing better graduates.


Cayman's Christmas stamp issue has been released. They feature images based on stained-glass windows from some of the churches on Grand Cayman. The stamps feature stained-glass windows at Wesleyan Holiness Church (25¢); Elmslie Memorial Church (50¢); St. George's Anglican Church (75¢); East End Seventh-Day Adventist Church (80¢); First Baptist Church of Grand Cayman ($1) and Frank Sound Church of God ($1.50). The image on the First Day Cover, which has all the stamps affixed to it, is a handmade quilt in the Little Cayman Baptist Church. The leaflet which accompanies the First Day Cover offers a brief history of the churches along with an explanation of the windows.

For more information contact the Philatelic Bureau at mailto:cistamps@candw.ky


Future plans to grow the sport of scuba diving in the Cayman Islands, a sport which has had its share of challenges, were discussed this week by the public and private sectors. The Cayman Islands Tourism Association’s watersports committee met with the Department of Tourism Tuesday in order to refine Cayman’s strategies to grow the sport over the next two years.

"The sport is in the mature phase of its lifecycle and the major certifying agencies, manufacturers and trade associations are developing strategies to deal with these challenges," explained Director of Tourism Pilar Bush in a response to questions on the dive industry from the Caymanian Compass.

The sport has been suffering from a flat rate of growth and even periods of decline, she said.

"Over the past decades, the average active traveller has more and more choice of leisure activities and on average less and less time to participate in leisure activities," Ms Bush said.

The CITA's Immediate Past President and Operations Manager of Red Sail Sports Rod McDowall noted, "There's a lot of competition out there and people have options to go to lots of different places. I don't think we've as many repeat visitors as we used to. It's just a general competition factor."

The main challenge, Ms Bush said, is that the sport of diving was at its peak in terms of active participation and rate of new certification the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Showing the sport as more of a social activity and including scuba diving imagery in mainstream consumer travel marketing have been strategies previously employed by DoT to market the sport, along with getting active younger celebrities such as Jessica Alba on island to learn to dive as a way of broadening the appeal of the sport.

The 9/11 terrorism attacks in the United States did not help the dive industry either, and the Caribbean hurricanes of 2004 and 2005 negatively impacted diving in the region.

Both Mr McDowall and CITA's Watersports Director Ron Kipp noted that diving here peaked back in 1998 and has been soft since then.

"The dive industry has been very ill since 1998, right along with the general stay–over tourism market," said Mr. Kipp.

Mr. McDowall stressed that the stay–over sector is the bread and butter of the diving industry and less focus on this sector is detrimental to the dive industry.

Steve Broadbelt, chairman of the CITA Watersports Committee, said of the dive industry, "We have the same challenges as all tourism businesses, and that is the need to increase air arrivals." He puts the health of the dive industry at six on a scale of one to 10.

The industry has also changed from around the time of 9/11 in that many of the big operators are gone. A number of businesses closed down because of Hurricane Ivan, also including Bob Soto's, Parrots Landing, Treasure Island Divers and Fisheye.

Now there are lots more smaller operators, and it’s more difficult than previously to make a living, said Mr. McDowall.

Immigration, fuel costs, the usual ongoing issues of dock and beach access, marine resource management and the cost of doing business are challenges facing the industry locally.

Runaway costs have made most businesses very marginally profitable, said Mr. Kipp. "Costs which have caused our product to be both perceived and in reality too expensive."

Cost of living is also affecting staffing, said Mr. Kipp. "The dive industry was always a 'fun' industry that many people entered for its lifestyle, not financial rewards. But you must make enough money to pay the rent on your shared living space, eat, etcetera. That is a very tough challenge for most diving employees today."

September and October, as always, are slow again for most operators in the business.

Mr. Kipp said it has been very bad since June and that this year September and October seem "terrible" for the dive industry.

Mr. Broadbelt said that at his own business, Ocean Frontiers, they lost their boat dock in Hurricane Dean and as a result business was down approximately 25 per cent from September 2006. "Other operators have reported a 15 per cent downturn in business in September 2007 from 2006."

But Mr. Broadbelt noted that putting a spotlight on one specific month is no way to make a business decision and that the year as a whole should be given a lot more weight. Therefore, year to date in 2007 business is up six per cent on the same period at Ocean Frontiers.

Mr. Broadbelt said that most dive businesses are not back to 2003 levels as yet since Hurricane Ivan, but from information shared within the CITA, that benchmark is being closed in on.

Although it is difficult to get accurate dive numbers, without a single reporting agency for the sport, the Director of Tourism said she is encouraged by recent reports of an increase rate of new diver certifications and they hope to get better information during the upcoming DEMA show in Orlando later this month.

Loss of some of the more "affordable" properties on the island can be seen as another factor that could turn some divers away.

"There is always room for more budget oriented accommodations," said Mr. McDowall.

Mr. Kipp mentioned the loss of Treasure Island, Indies Suites, Seaview, the Sleep Inn, Cayman Islander, Divi Tiara, Spanish Bay Reef and soon to go Beach Club. The loss of some properties has put Cayman out of the budget of some divers, Mr. Broadbelt said.

"However, don't get the impression that divers don't have any money – 70 per cent of Ocean Frontiers customers have an average household income well in excess of $100,000 per annum."

While the DoT collects general visitor expenditure information, it does not have detailed information on the relative spending of divers vis–à–vis other types of visitors with which to provide an accurate assessment of their unique and relative value to the destination, said Ms Bush.

One concern that Mr. McDowall voiced is that diving is not in the primary section of the Cayman Islands target audience.

"I think it is important not to lose the fact that Cayman diving has been very important for the islands over the last 30 years," he said.

But the Director of Tourism noted that the dive market remains a key target group for the Cayman Islands. "It is the second most important category so it remains very important at this stage," she said.

The dive market lies in the "extender" target with romance, beyond the core targets of families and travel trade.

Ms Bush explained, "The Cayman Islands target visitor profile is arrived at in consultation with and with full participation of the CI private sector, dive's relative position reflects the government and private sector's respective assessment of its value to the country."

Ms Bush said that there has not been any decrease in the marketing efforts of the Cayman Islands as a dive destination and a full mix of advertising, public relations, special events, tradeshows, on–island dive fams, and direct marketing are used to promote the sport in all three islands.

Mr. Broadbelt said that the dive industry is very excited about the USS Kittiwake Shipwreck project (a 251-foot US Navy submarine rescue ship) for sinking in 2008 and that the government has always given tremendous support to make this happen.

Indeed, Mr. Kipp believes that getting this project underway could prove to be as major a boon to the diving industry as Stingray City was to the snorkelling group.

The dive industry is also very thankful to Cayman Airways for adding non–stop flights from JFK. "This has made a positive impact on most tourism businesses and we look forward to new efforts to increase air arrivals and stay–over tourism," said Mr. Broadbelt.


A wave runner rider, Edsell Alberto Haylock was fined $300 after pleading guilty to a charge of navigating a vessel in such a manner as to cause risk of damage to people or property. The offence occurred within a diving zone near the Cracked Conch Restaurant in West Bay on Sunday, 1 July.

Crown Counsel Tanya Lobban said Haylock was riding the wave runner as close as 50 feet to shore within a diving area while scuba divers were in the water. The wave runner narrowly missed a diver, according to one report.

Acting Magistrate Valdis Foldats accepted the guilty plea. He noted the seriousness of the offence, but gave credit for Haylock's plea and the fact that he had no previous convictions. The maximum fine for this offence is $1,000.

The fourth annual Cayman Stingray Tourism Awards were presented by the Cayman Islands Tourism Association at the Westin Casuarina Resort.

The awards included: the Restaurant Manager of the Year award went to Martin Hoetzl of Blue Restaurant, the Ritz–Carlton, Grand Cayman; Ivan Lee of the Ritz–Carlton, Grand Cayman won Watersports Manager of the Year; Gladys Howard of Pirates Point Resort on Little Cayman won a Long Service Award; Mike Flowers won a Special Contribution Award; Merilyn Malone of Cayman Airways won the Transportation Employee of the Year; Louie–Mae Parchment of Sunshine Suites won Accommodations Employee of the Year; Delva Ebanks of the Westin Casuarina Resort won a Long Service Award; Annie Bush of the Westin Casuarina Resort won Restaurant Employee of the Year; Kenrick Webster of Websters Tours won Transportation Manager of the Year; Brandee Elise Milman of Divetech won Watersports Employee of the Year; Fernando Soler of the Grand Cayman Marriott Beach Resort won Accommodations Manager of the Year; Justin Uzzell of Cayman Free Press/Key to Cayman won Allied Manager of the Year; Anthony Clarke of Red Sail Sports won the Rising Star Tourism Award; Garfield Ebanks of the Grand Cayman Marriott Beach Resort won Accommodations Employee of the Year; Allied Employee of the Year went to Ann Ogden of Celebrations. Ms Ogden was in Little Cayman for the filming of "My Destination Wedding with the Knot," which will see a featured couple have their destination wedding, at the Southern Cross Club to be aired on (US) Style TV in 2008.


Friedman Paul Erhardt, the ebullient German–born cook known as "Chef Tell" who opened Chef Tell's Grand Old House on Grand Cayman in 1986, died of heart failure at his home in Upper Black Eddy, Bucks County, Pensylvania. Erhhardt was 63.

September 2007

According to a report issued by Hurricanecity.com, Cayman is the worst place in the atlantic basin for tropical storms/hurricanes (see http://www.hurricanecity.com/Rank.htm). Based on data for tropical storms from 1871 to 2006, 61 storms passed Cayman within 60 to 70 miles, putting Cayman top of their list with on average a storm passing every 2.23 years.


Just before Hurricane Felix swept past Cayman, Durty Reids at Red Bay was demolished. It has now been announced that 'Durty' Reid Dennis has signed a two-year lease with the Tourism Attraction Board to operate the café at the historic Pedro St. James and is now open for business.


A new census at Grand Cayman’s stingray interactive sites, Stingray City and the Sandbar in the North Sound, is to be undertaken by the Guy Harvey Research Institute (GHRI) next year. When the last study was undertaken in 2002, they tagged 165 animals in the sandbar, 22 from the stingray city site and 45 wild animals from around Grand Cayman that don’t interact with humans, as a control. The Department of Environment’s Assistant Director – Research and Assessment Tim Austin said that information from the last study was useful and some aspects of it were incorporated into new regulations, now being enforced, which designate both the Sandbar and Stingray City as Wildlife Interaction Zones (WIZ). He added that the study "helped to determine the required size of the various WIZs and allowed the DoE to compromise its stated position of no more additional stingray feeding sites and allow potential sites within the boundaries of the WIZ as these would be the same rays and no new population of rays would be impacted." After the previous study, the GHRI made recommendations that footwear should not be allowed in the shallow sandbar as their studies confirmed an abundance of human induced injuries to rays from footwear. This suggestion has been incorporated into the WIZ regulations.


Boatswain's Beach, the new home of the Cayman Turtle Farm, have announced discounted pricing up the end of 2007.

"We have decided to offer these discounted rates until the end of the year to allow both Residents and Visitors the opportunity to enjoy the park extensively," their representative said. Guests can now enjoy the entire Park for only US$55 for Adults and US$25 for children ages 4-12. Residents (with local identification) can enter the entire park for only CI$10 for adults and CI$4 for children ages 4-12.


Over the last 17 months government has issued over 41,617 work permits. For the period (April 2006 to August 2007) this is broken down into 10,367 annual permits, 20,729 temporary permits and 10,521 renewals.


Leader of Government Business the Hon. Kurt Tibbetts agreed on behalf of Government to consider a mandatory photo identification system to assist law enforcement officers, security officers, school officials and others in carrying out their responsibilities. In a debate on the topic, George Town MLA Alfonso Wright pointed out that at present many under-age individuals are able to gain access into night clubs and other events and similar premises. The motion also noted that with population increase and cultural diversification, it is no longer possible to easily identify individuals. Also, homeland security is of greater importance in today's global situation. Law enforcement officers feel the lack of a proper identification system in the proper execution of their duties. Mr. Wright recalled that there have been three Private Member's Motions seeking such a system in the past, two of which were accepted by the governments of the day but nothing came of them. The motion in 1987 failed, while the ones in 1989 (which called for the voluntary adoption of an identification system) and another in 1994 (which called for compulsory IDs) both passed in the House. The need was for a user-friendly ID system, he recommended, and one which could also include additional information, such as health needs of the person which would prove invaluable in life-threatening situations. Cards were less bulky and safer options than passports. Accepting the motion, Minister Tibbetts noted that a system like the Drivers' Licence which is valid for three years at a time could be installed. However, decisions about age groups and extending the system to embrace all residents would have to be looked at, he said. A national ID system would have to cover all residents, he added.


Cayman Islands’ Annual Economic Report (AER) 2006 has been published and can be downloaded from http://www.eso.ky/UserFiles/File/2006%20AER%20August%202007%20FINAL.pdf (86 pages, 431Kb).

Highlights of the report include:

A slowdown in the pace of economic expansion as gross domestic product (GDP) grew at an estimated rate of 4.6 percent, down from 6.5 percent a year ago.

The estimated mid-year population reached 51,992 growing by 7.5% over the mid-year population in 2005. This population growth being faster than the nominal GDP growth in 2006 resulted in a slight decline in GDP per capita to reach CI$39,137 in 2006.

Economic growth in 2006 was stimulated on the demand side by renewed growth in demand for tourism services, government consumption and government capital spending as demand for investment in capital goods receded with the completion of the post-Ivan reconstruction work and in the midst of a rise in real interest rates. Upward movement of demand indicators include those of consumer imports (up by 24.6%), electricity consumption (up by 14.9%) and water consumption (up by 19.9%).

The year 2006 saw a strong recovery in the tourism sector: visitor arrivals totalled 2.2 million, an increase of 11.7% over 2005. Air arrivals surged by 59.3% to reach 267,257 in 2006.

Construction remained a growth sector in 2006 as building permits reached 1,290 (or 33.3% higher than in 2006) valued at $445.8 million.

The Consumer Price Index moved up throughout 2006. From -0.9% in March 2006, the inflation rate inched up by 0.9% in June, 1.4% in September and 1.6% in December. Nonetheless, the average inflation rate of 0.8% in 2006 represented a sharp decline from the 7.3% in 2005. This can be attributed to the increase in supply of private residences to cause a downward pressure on housing cost.

Total employment as a proportion of the labour force improved to 97.4% in spring 2006 from 96.5% in fall 2005. Hence, the unemployment rate fell to 2.6% compared to 3.5% in fall 2005.

Net domestic credit extended by the commercial banks increased by 9.1% to reach $2.1 billion. This was comprised of net credit to the public sector which rose by 5.5%, and credit to the private sector which rose by 9.4%.

The net foreign asset position of local commercial banks increased by 18.5% to $4.7 billion, mainly as a result of increases in investment and loans to non-residents.


The Legislative Assembly has passed the Freedom Of Information (FOI) Bill into law, which will come into effect in April 2009. Of the new bill, Leader of Government Business, the Hon. Kurt Tibbetts said "As a result of public input, greater emphasis has been placed on the general principles of maximum disclosure and releasing information in the public interest. These principles provide the foundation on which Government can begin building a new culture of openness. For example the scope of the bill ensures that Government ministries, portfolios, and statutory authorities are all defined as public authorities and even Cabinet is not excluded from a FOI request."


After some speculation, it has been confirmed that the Links at SafeHaven, the only full-size golf course on the island, has been purchased by Michael Ryan, the developer of the Ritz-Carlton Grand Cayman, for $80 million with effect from 26th October 2007. It is thought that some of the course will be used to expand the existing 9-hole Ritz-Carlton course to a full 18-hole course. The remaining land would be sold or developed. This has caused some concern amongst residents and visitors as the Links was the only full-size golf course open to the public. Generally Ritz-Carlton facilities are only available to their own guests.


Twenty-five-year-old Rebecca Parchment of West Bay was crowned the new Miss Cayman.

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