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(CNS): After walking back the ‘quality over quantity’ idea recently and focusing on increasing the cruise visitor headcount, Tourism Minister Kenneth Bryan has revealed plans that he said demonstrate that the government is still working towards that goal as part of its “reimagined cruise strategy”.
The ultra-luxurious Evrima, part of the Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection that offers cruisers a chance to spend time at its hotels as well as on the ocean, made a very brief call to George Town last Thursday, which Bryan said was part of talks to add Grand Cayman to its itinerary.
He said the ministry and the Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman are working on an agreement to pave the way for the yacht to visit the Cayman Islands, which would allow guests to have a dual land and sea experience with a two-night stay at the resort. However, the first call would not be until the end of this year.
“I am really excited to be in talks with the Ritz-Carlton to bring this quality cruise product to the Cayman Islands. By enticing ships of this size and calibre to visit our destination, we are demonstrating the type of ‘quality over quantity’ we are working toward harnessing as part of our reimagined cruise strategy,” Bryan said in a press release.
“We look forward to solidifying this partnership with The Ritz-Carlton and will work toward cultivating relationships with other ultra-luxury yacht carriers to develop the Cayman Islands as a part of their route offerings.”
The Evrima, the first of three custom-built ships, made its inaugural voyage in October from Barcelona to Nice. Last week the 190-metre ship, which carries just under 300 passengers, made a brief stop here on its way from Panama to Fort Lauderdale. The luxury yacht is one of a number of vessels in this type of category that could help develop a new type of cruise product here.
There has long been broad support in the community, including tourism stakeholders, that Cayman should try to attract smaller ships with high net worth passengers. For decades, tourism operators have seen their margins squeezed by the bigger cruise lines and passenger spending on the island decrease. This has resulted in unsustainable pressure on infrastructure and attractions, especially on beaches in recent years as a result of dwindling access.
Aiming for fewer people with more cash is seen as the holy grail of cruise policy, reducing the impact on Grand Cayman’s resources while enabling tourism stakeholders to make a fair living.
Ritz-Carlton GM Marc Langevin, a former president of CITA, told the Cayman Compass recently that attracting these types of ships could potentially fill the gap created by any drop in cruise calls, which cruise lines such as Carnival and Royal Caribbean have said will happen because they will not tender their new mega-ships. “The interesting part of the Yacht Collection is that they’re not tied to any specific ports because their size allows them to be anywhere,” he said.
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