(CNS): The opposition party has escalated its campaign against Tourism Minister Kenneth Bryan. In another message that is critical of the minister, PPM Leader Roy McTaggart said he doesn’t “seem to understand what is happening in Cayman’s tourism industry”. However, sources have told CNS that Bryan is well liked by some of the local CITA members as he navigates the choppy post-pandemic waters and is seen as more accessible than other PACT ministers.

Nonetheless, the Progressives have claimed that Bryan is underestimating the difficulties and challenges the sector faces and is ignoring the hardship of people who work in tourism. McTaggart said the ministry’s recent announcement about the boost in revenue from tourism taxes in the first six months of this year disguises the true picture, as he accused Bryan of spinning the numbers.

Explaining what he sees as the real lesson from the six-month revenue figures, he said, “The Cayman Islands stay-over tourism is down 16% when compared with 2019, and this country is currently at 16th place in the league table of 18 regional destinations.”

According to the figures that the ministry released last week, stay-over arrivals for the first six months of 2023 were 235,370, or 84% of the corresponding period in 2019.

McTaggart stated that this 16% gap was around 45,000 fewer visitors, who in 2019 were estimated to be spending around $1,814 per night. With inflation running at around 10% since then, boosting spending to around $2,000, a loss of 45,000 visitors meant that $90 million less was spent in the economy in the first half of 2023 compared with 2019.

“Couple those losses with the damaging effect of the decline in cruise visitors that the Progressives highlighted last week, and the impact on Caymanians with tourism
businesses and Caymanians working in the industry is significant,” McTaggart said.

“And while Caymanians in the real economy are suffering, the minister is boasting about government revenues. The reason why government revenues are up is not due to the minister’s efforts. Instead, it is a consequence of inflation,” he added, a point noted in a report on CNS last week.

“The reality is that visitor numbers are down from where they should be,” McTaggart said, repeating his point before taking aim at Bryan’s dual role of chairperson of the Caribbean Tourism Organization and Cayman’s tourism minister.

“Given the time that the tourism minister spends on regional issues rather than on fixing the obvious problems at home, he should have noticed that Cayman is receiving fewer stayover visitors when many of our regional competitors are ahead of their 2019 numbers,” the opposition leader said.

However, McTaggart did not reflect on the fact that Cayman was one of the last destinations in the Caribbean to re-open its borders, only lifting the last of the strict pandemic rules and restrictions in August of last year, which has impacted its recovery.

Cayman also has the reputation of being the most expensive destination in the region, which makes rebuilding its mass tourism more challenging as many travellers simply cannot afford to come here.

Islands such as Jamaica, Anguilla, USVI, Grenada and Aruba have surpassed their 2019 tourism arrival figures according to regional statistics, but many opened their borders and lifted all restrictions before Cayman. On the other hand, Trinidad and Cuba are well below their pre-pandemic visitor numbers because of their own unique challenges.

Another point that the PPM has not yet fully recognised is the growing public disquiet over tourist headcount. Given the negative impact that tourism is having on the environment and local infrastructure, many involved in the tourism sector, as well as residents not connected to tourism, want to see fewer tourists overall but more high-spending guests.

Indirect trickle-down from tourism has failed to make much of an impact on most people here, which taints the tourism product for those not working in the sector. It is also a source of frustration because, while a number of small business owners are dependent on tourism, a significant percentage of tourism workers are not local.

Cayman’s economy is far more dependent on the offshore sector, which fuelled the domestic economy during the pandemic and continues to be its main driver. Nevertheless, McTaggart was adamant that the government must address the decline in numbers “urgently and not gloss over the issue with throw-away statements”.

He said suggesting that tourism had surpassed expectations and was rebounding was misleading. “Our tourism performance may have surpassed Minister Bryan’s expectations, but we are lagging well behind many in the region. The government might be celebrating its revenues, but hard-pressed Caymanians in the tourism sector are paying the cost,” the Progressive leader said.

He also criticised Bryan for failing to re-imagine the future of cruise tourism, as those numbers drop, compounding the problem.

“Anyone can set a low target and then celebrate its achievement. As the former tourism minister, MP Moses Kirkconnell, recently advised in parliament, the tourism ministry should raise its tourism projections. We must be more ambitious for our tourism product. We need a tourism minister who sets ambitious goals and works hard to achieve them,” he said.

In his video message, McTaggart said that Cayman “must get away from the current pattern of unconnected initiatives and ill-thought-through policies”.

He said that during the last Progressive-led administration, stay-over tourism surpassed 500,000 visitors for the first time. “This is not to brag but to remind the minister that we understand what it takes to make Cayman Islands tourism successful. Listening to free advice may pay off for him,” McTaggart added.

This claim is undermined by the fact that the current PPM leader had stood firmly behind the cruise berthing project that was roundly rejected in the successful referendum campaign. McTaggart has not been clear about whether or not the PPM accepts the public opposition to a berthing facility or if the proposal could be resurrected under a Progressives-led administration.

See McTaggart’s video message in full below:

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