ANOTHER CRUISE PIER REFERENDUM: MORE A QUESTION OF ‘WHERE’ THAN ‘IF’?

To use an analogy, the cruise pier issue has cruised back into the headlines but this time in a real sense. It may very well lead to a berthing or a sinking of this idea - and by extension Cayman’s cruise sector - in true Cayman nautical terms.

The decision of the UPM administration to put the issue out to the highest form of pubic consultation - a referendum - is significant.

A previous attempt at a referendum on the issue was left ‘dead in the water’.

In 2019, the then-PPM administration initiated a referendum, then on a joint cruise and cargo port development project.

That effectively ‘ran aground’, battered by waves of objections led by local environmental groups over the expected impact on the George Town harbour’s delicate coral reef system. There were also questions surrounding the legality of the referendum itself.

However, the PPM government cleared the legal hurdles. Despite losing in the Grand Court, it ultimately won in the Court of Appeal. By then the political will had been taken out of the government’s sails over this issue and it backed away from the project.

Cayman’s cruise pier woes were keenly followed in the global industry and particularly by neighbouring - and competing Caribbean destinations.

The global cruise industry has gone on to build even larger mega cruise ships.

Regional neighbours - competitors by default - have gone on  to build even larger cruise ports (or build cruise ports with berthing facilities where previously they didn’t exist).

Cayman, meanwhile has been seeing its cruise sector, a critical segment of its vital tourism industry, slowly - and by some accounts, fairly rapidly) dwindle to where it’s ‘just barely staying afloat’.

This is acknowledged by the UPM government.

“Cruise lines have expressed that passenger numbers could be expected to decline without berthing because the turnaround time required to transfer passengers from ship to shore via the current tender operations was impractical. Additionally, cruise lines have moved on from the Oasis class ships to the newer, larger Icon class which carry more guests, making the transfer of passengers by tender completely unfeasible,” it says.

The quality over quantity argument also seems a bit adrift in this scenario.

The local business sub-sector built up around the cruise industry is reported to be suffering due to dwindling bookings associated with the declining number of cruise ship calls and passengers.

Commenting on the impact this is having on local small businesses, the government further warned: “The Cayman Islands cruise sector is predominantly serviced by Caymanian-owned small and micro businesses and employs a higher ratio of Caymanian entrepreneurs in public transport, water sports, retail and tour operations than the stayover tourism sector. The stark decline in visitor numbers, as well as having an adverse effect on these businesses, is also negatively impacting government revenues earned per passenger from departure tax.”

Meanwhile, the inclusion of the current port area for the proposed new cargo port expansion is already attracting its share of environmental concerns and reservations.

As things stand, it would appear that the question for the cruise pier referendum  - reportedly to be held before December this year - might be less of ‘if’ but ‘where’ a cruise port could be best located…if Cayman is to keep up with industry trends.

That’s of course if Cayman wants to.

Once again we’ll watch, wait - and participate - with bated breaths.