MDATT

scholarships that bring upper management. “We’ve had success in moving some of our brightest stars to the hospitality industry.When you have properties such as Ritz, Marriott,Westin, Four Seasons is coming, Hilton, all the major brands, from management down to front facing, we encourage school leavers to look at the op- portunities and move students into that industry.” BVM: Does your Ministry address green initia- tives? Minister Kirkconnell: “ We did a Green Globe ini- tiative – that’s a green certification standard that the property itself gets involved with. Cobalt Coast, Compass Point, Botanic Park, Southern Cross Club have all been Green Globe certified; it’s a good mar- keting tool for people interested in an eco-friendly experience.We also encourage solar rooftop heaters for water needs; desalinated gray water for plants and composting.The initiatives are in place, but it’s a project in the early stages of its life cycle that needs continued government support with human capital and funding, as well.” BVM: What are your Ministry’s goals for the near-term future? Minister Kirkconnell: “We have high and low seasons now, and we want to flatten out our seasons. Our initiatives are working from the example of climate reverses. If we can attract the South American market in the reverse of how we attract the North American market, we’ll offer a very good experience in terms of weather and what they’re looking for in a vacation experience. To look at it in an economical way, our goal is to provide jobs 12 months of the year, rather than nine strong months.We’re looking for other areas to bring people from, so there is always tourism employment available. “We have three islands –Grand Cayman, Cay- man Brac, and Little Cayman–we view that as three opportunities.We’re building throughput for each of those islands and exploring how we can work with each of them to take advantage of tourism opportunities and growth. As we say in the Cayman Islands, ‘Tourism is everybody’s busi- ness.’” MINISTRY OF DISTRICT ADMINISTRATION, TOURISMAND TRANSPORT - CAYMAN ISLANDS