by Brian Major
Last updated: 9:10 AM ET, Sun January 26, 2025
The fate of the Cayman Islands’ cruise pier referendum remains
moored in cloudy waters.
The lack of a fixed cruise pier is impacting the
destination, once among the five top Caribbean ports in terms of cruise visitors.
Over the past two years, Cayman cruise calls have declined significantly, with major
operators shifting itineraries away to avoid tendering increasing numbers of
guests to shore from ever-larger ships.
The changes are also affecting wider Caribbean itineraries as the Cayman Islands
represents a key geographic call for western Caribbean itineraries.
Debated at a “raucous” [January 14] public meeting attended
by industry stakeholders, business owners and Cayman residents, it remains
unclear if legislation to ask Cayman citizens if the nation should build a
fixed cruise ship pier will proceed to a vote.
Recent government changes have transformed a once-majority
government (which had backed the referendum) into a minority government, said
Ellio Solomon, executive program manager of the Association of Cruise Tourism (ACT).
ACT and pro-referendum legislators and stakeholders are
clearly worried the referendum will not appear on the parliament’s agenda for a
January 31 vote. Combined with other opponents of the legislation, lawmakers
who are not members of the minority group have stated the issue is “too
controversial and they prefer not to vote on the bill,” said Solomon.
In a late 2024 Cayman Compass article, Kenneth Bryan, the
Cayman Islands’ deputy premier and tourism minister, said the government “would
need the support of parliament to ensure that the referendum would still take
place.”
Just prior to the January 14 gathering, Solomon said he
hoped the session would “influence these persons and strike at the heart of
some of these elected officials [who] may still go to parliament on January 31
and vote in favor of the referendum.”
In a recent interview with TravelPulse, Solomon stated his
case of why the Cayman Islands should build fixed cruise piers.
TP: What is ACT’s role in this process?
ACT is leading the charge on the on pro cruise, pro-piers [perspective].
Irrespective of whether the referendum happens or not, we will continue the
educational process at least up until elections on April 30, 2025.
TP: Why is it important for the Cayman Islands
to have a fixed cruise pier?
ES: The tendering process is not necessarily the best one
for the environment. I remember during the early days I was back in high school
we had one of the cruise ships [become] stuck up on the rocks because there
were no piers. That ship remained there for at least two weeks. It did a
significant damage [to reefs]. And I think of 2014 when another cruise ship’s anchor
tore up over 16,000 square feet of reef.
Then you've got the tenders just running back and forth [expending]
chemicals into the water. It’s the same thing with [anchored] cruise ships. They
keep thrusters on to make sure they’re keeping stable. And there’s the Russian
roulette that goes on with cruise ships dropping anchors. If you just look at
that situation you should be saying to yourself, ‘I don't think that this is
the idea that this is the best thing for the environment.’
TP: Are there other reasons?
ES: As a person who's also had the personal experience to
work on tenders, I also know some of the disadvantages. I remember in days when
it would rain, I would sit there and I be embarrassed because even though I
know we had no influence over the rain, it was not a good experience for the
tourists coming here.
TP: How does this impact the guest experience
in Cayman?
In Cayman right now 3.8 hours is what an average cruise
tourist is [spending] here. There’s a significant amount of time on the ship,
then the tender, then sitting at the Royal Walter [shoreside facility] before they
can finally get to see the island, and then the process repeats itself.
So rather than us getting almost six hours of stay, we’re
only getting 3.5 to 3.8. From an economic standpoint, you can see that is
significant. The spend right now is between $127 to $150, you’re potentially being
able to double that.
Even if we don’t want to talk about dollars and sense, you don’t
want your cruise tourists to only be able to float around town and then be in a
rush saying, ‘I’ve got to get back really quickly because there's a long line to
catch the tender.’
You want to be able to give them a comfortable stay for a
couple of hours so they can get out of George Town and into other districts. All
those things are being denied now simply because of the way things are.
TP: Is there any pro-referendum sentiment in
the Cayman community?
ES: There are persons who believe the government and all
elected officials should be showing some leadership and just moving forward
with the construction of piers. That’s a very strong sentiment here.
I think there’s a segment that needs to get downtown to do
their financial services. They think [cruise activity] is something that just
prevents [them] from getting to work on time. Also, 80 percent of [the Cayman
Islands] revenues come from financial services. If you just look at that, you
might say well, [cruise tourism] is not really important.
But of course, it is because we’re talking about $300
million direct spend into the economy. I’m not sure what the multiplier is, but
I’m sure it’s nothing less than five considering our tax situation, so you probably
have about a $1.5 billion spend passing hands from cruise tourism. But if you
look at it from a government perspective, direct revenues, it sounds like
financial services is [paramount].
TP: Are there other sentiments?
ES: You have those that are pro-piers, they are directly
involved or have family members involved. But the largest segment of people I
think are disconnected from it. They go about their day and just try to avoid [cruise]
traffic. I think some of those people are unfortunately into a bit of
conformity [because] many of them infer a referendum has already taken place,
when in fact it has not.
But I think as we engage in the educational process, they will
realize there was no referendum. This perception has been allowed to go on for
four years and has kind of crystalized. [But] I think it is breaking up because
we see how the opposition is responding to our campaign. I think the majority
of people are either in favor of or are very receptive now to listening to hearing
about the benefits of cruise tourism.
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