Education key to improving future of tourism

Edited By : divesergeant Wednesday, 28 October 2009 02:23:14 PM.

Quote:

The tourism product has lost that true Caymanian experience.

As most all of us are Cayman Islands lovers, I think this topic from CayCompass might be near and dear to our hearts, and might spark a lively exchange of ideas. Please check out the article from the link and then weigh in with your views.

Tourism Article

Hopefully the ideas exchanged here might find their way to those on the Department of Tourism for the betterment of the industry...

DS

Posted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 11:02 am Post subject:

DS,

As a newcomer to the islands (2 visits in 2 years) I can tell you that I fell in love with the place because of:

1) The feeling of tranquility and calmness I don't get here at home in Long Island, NY.

2) The feeling of safety I have on the island for me and my family that I don't feel on vacations in other parts of the world. This is in large part due to the character and personality of the Cayman people we meet.

3) The DIVING!!

As long as these 3 points remain intact, we will be annual Cayman tourists for life.

Posted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 2:18 pm Post subject:

DS, great article.

I do miss the "Cayman" touch to island. But I think it's a two-edged sword. We are visitors to these people's homeland. We cannot always expect them to be "on"...that would get very tiring! There are tourists 24/7/365! I'm sure that they are weary of this constant plague of locusts that descend on their island. As tourists, we need to be mindful of this.

Newbie Joined: 28 Oct 2009 Posts: 6

SalannB, unfortunately tourists don't think that way :(

Posted: Thu Oct 29, 2009 7:03 pm Post subject:

Good points all of them.

On one hand, there is no stopping progress and a nation has to evolve to survive.

On the other hand, we tourists get fixed in our minds the way it was "back then..." and bristle at differences each time we visit.

Personally, my hangup is the proliferation of mega-resorts that seem to blot out "traditional Cayman". I won't say my point of view is correct, just that it is my point of view!

A friend of mine is a police officer on a remote, vacation island in the middle of a big lake here in Michigan. During the summer he sure wishes all of the tourists would get the heck off his island. He gets them for two or so months, caribbean islands get tourists all year!

DS

Native Joined: 18 Feb 2005 Posts: 2035 Location: Illinois

I guess if we hadn't discovered Cayman so early we might not have some of those opinions!

Shelly :-)

Posted: Fri Oct 30, 2009 2:52 pm Post subject:

shelly wrote:

I guess if we hadn't discovered Cayman so early we might not have some of those opinions!

Shelly :-)

True 'nuff!
DS

Frequent Flyer Joined: 15 Feb 2005 Posts: 80

Up in Toronto, Canada we have a place called Black Creek Pioneer Village. It consists of old Pioneer and historic cabins, homes and stores. It is time in a bottle. Cayman, if they can do it, should try to preserve older Cayman stores and homes in a setting where tourists could see how the islands were before modern building imposed on the landscape.

A small street could be developed along with businesses to be a tourist draw. It would be a must see for the cruise crowd. It could be a show case for Caymanian culture along with creating a new industry for those who could fill in the blanks for tourists wanting to know how Cayman evolved from Pirates to Finance. It would really be a winner.

It would require homes and stores from the old days to be moved to this new location, when they are going to be demolished, by the Govt. It will be costly but will preserve the past for Caymanians and tourists along with creating jobs and a new and important tourist attraction. Done right it would be a unique Caymanian experience promoted world wide.

Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2009 7:12 pm Post subject:

Thanks Leo. It sounds like a museum that is a whole street long. It'd be great for visitors to see how life was "way back then", without the mosquitoes, of course!

DS

Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2009 7:46 pm Post subject:

divesergeant wrote:

It sounds like a museum that is a whole street long. It'd be great for visitors to see how life was "way back then", without the mosquitoes, of course!DS

We have one of those at Boatswain's Beach. Razz

Frequent Flyer Joined: 15 Feb 2005 Posts: 80

DS Black Creek Pioneer Village is actually designed as a small village. Very small but representative of a by gone era.

I think Cayman would do very well having one bordering George Town or near Caymana Bay. I hope there are enough surviving buildings to do this with or memories to reconstruct replicas for a street to be built. I do think it would be a winner.

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