CPR Cayman, the ad hoc activist group that is against the building of cruise ship piers in George Town, expressed its disappointment in a statement made by Deputy Premier Kenneth Bryan on Thursday, claiming that it was “contradictory” and an attempt to confuse the public.
In particular, CPR Cayman objected to the deputy premier saying that a ”yes” vote on the referendum asking whether the Cayman Islands should develop cruise berthing infrastructure would not mean cruise piers would be built.
“Unfortunately, it appears that the deputy premier and current minority government are attempting to confuse the public and are moving away from their previously stated position,” CPR Cayman’s press release stated. “While the government-initiated referendum is non-binding, it will be up to the new government that comes to power after the 30 April 2025 election to determine the country’s position on cruise berthing.”
The press release said that one of the political parties running a slate of candidates has stated that based on a polling of constituents, that cruise berthing is not one of the country’s top 10 issues and additionally that the country cannot afford to make this type of investment in cruise berthing at this time.
“However, leaders of another party have stated in public forums that their policy on cruise berthing will be guided by the outcome of the referendum.”
The press release stated that the current government, which has brought the referendum forward, “have not provided any pertinent data or verifiable information to support this attempt to move forward on a cruise berthing facility, which would saddle the country with more significant long term debt for a project that is not a stated top 10 national priority.”
The press release also responded to critiques of the recently released report by well-known Caribbean economist Marla Dukharan that stated that since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, cruise arrivals to Cayman have been declining, but a similar trend was observed in 83% of the Caribbean jurisdictions, and that declines in cruise ship passenger arrivals have been experienced even in destinations that have cruise berthing infrastructure. Those statistics demonstrate “that declining cruise arrivals is not at all unique to Cayman, and that cruise berthing infrastructure and the capacity to accommodate mega ships will not necessarily reverse these declines,” the press release said, adding that Dukharan’s report does not suggest that Cayman’s cruise sector is in jeopardy.
“In fact, on the contrary, Cayman’s dominant cruise sector already has a higher than average per passenger spend, higher than average disembarkation rate, higher than average onshore tour purchase rates [and] higher than average earnings per passenger for onshore excursions.”
The press release also comments on the latest statistics released by Cayman’s Department of Tourism with regard to cruise passenger arrivals.
“Further, February 2025 cruise arrivals are up 21% and Cayman remains 6th for the highest number of arrivals in the region in 2024,” the press release states.
