Re: Grand Cayman Trip Report

"Dan Bracuk" <bracuk@pathcom.com> wrote in message
news:qi74o2pqcatncttoinkei2gvnfh3v2iqq1@4ax.com...
Good report Dan, thanks.

The last time at GC (a couple years ago) I noticed reduced tourist numbers.
The locals said business was bad and that GC had lost its appeal due to high
prices. There is also the conversion of many hotel properties to permanent
living accommodations reducing the number of offerings for hotel-type
visitors.

Dan Bracuk wrote:
> "ben bradlee"wrote:
>
> :The last time at GC (a couple years ago) I noticed reduced tourist numbers.
> :The locals said business was bad and that GC had lost its appeal due to high
> rices. There is also the conversion of many hotel properties to permanent
> :living accommodations reducing the number of offerings for hotel-type
> :visitors.

A problem that was then compounded by Hurricane Ivan. Cayman has taken
quite a hit from lower-priced destinations such as Cozumel and their
'strategy' has been to try to escape upscale. Seems to havef worked
some for the non-diver family crowd who is afraid of Mexico
stereotypes, but overall, it probably has hurt in that they've priced
themselves out of the 'frugal' dive market, with the loss of the
Magnificant Dive Dump, the Enterprise B&B, Holiday Inn and others.

> Something I didn't mention is that there also seemed to be fewer dive
> boats out there than what I remember.

Could partially be Ivan again, as there were many boats that were
damaged in that storm, and while this should be passing to some degree,
there still is a relative shortage of on-island hotel rooms to
represent business.


> I think that's cruise ships have just become more popular for
> whatever reason, which takes people out of the hotels.

The "Cruise Ship out of Florida" does very much seem to be the
post-9/11 vacation that is increasingly popular for by many Americans.
Reports in Grand Cayman is that they're now receiving up to ten (10)
ships per day, and since the port fees which the Government receives
from this they consider to be "easy" money, the trend is likely to
continue: it looks pretty certain that they're going to dump fill on a
live coral reef inside the Marine Park on the Brac simpy to install a
cruise ship dock. In the meantime, the proposed closure of 11 of 22
dive site moorings on Little Cayman that I mentioned two months ago
remains in dispute.


-hh

Tourism has not been the number one industry in the Caymans for a very long
time.

Lee

Lee Bell wrote:
> Tourism has not been the number one industry in the Caymans for a very long
> time.

"Tourism is also a mainstay, accounting for about 70% of GDP"

https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications...k/geos/cj.html

Greg Mossman wrote:
> Lee Bell wrote:
> > Tourism has not been the number one industry in the Caymans for a very long
> > time.
>
> "Tourism is also a mainstay, accounting for about 70% of GDP"
>
> https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications...k/geos/cj.html

www.cia.gov? Aren't these the boys that sold Dubya on WMD
in Iraq?

Greg Mossman wrote

>> Tourism has not been the number one industry in the Caymans for a very
>> long
>> time. "Tourism is also a mainstay, accounting for about 70% of GDP"
> https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications...k/geos/cj.html

If you were the number one money laundering country in the world, what would
you claim was the source of your wealth.

All those banks must just be a coincidence or perhaps it's because Grand
Cayman is so conveniently located for international banking, being only a
few thousand miles from the nearest legitimate financial center.

"Greg Mossman" <mossman@qnet.com> wrote in message
news:1166574952.905239.256920@n67g2000cwd.googlegr oups.com...
> Lee Bell wrote:
>> Tourism has not been the number one industry in the Caymans for a very
>> long
>> time.
>
> "Tourism is also a mainstay, accounting for about 70% of GDP"
>
> https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications...k/geos/cj.html


It depends on where you assess the revenue for all the hyperbaric
treatment...
--


Popeye
You can get much further with a kind word and a gun
than you can with a kind word alone. -Capone
www.finalprotectivefire.com