December 2016 | Business View Caribbean

26 27 airport, the cruise port and overall for visitors get- ting around the island, enjoying entertainment at night. Certainly the visitation was felt in all sectors of tourism and we’ve been assessing the visitor cycle to deliver on a positive experience. BVM: Obviously, the customers that you’re dealing with have many options available to them for vacationing, howmuch competition is there between the Caymans and other destinations in the Caribbean and elsewhere? What’s it like? Is it a friendly competition? Is it an intense competition? Howwould you describe it? HARRIS: I think it depends on what the visitor is looking for.We like to say that in the Cayman Islands, you can create your own experience. If you want a quiet vacation, you can have that.We have three islands.There’s Cayman Brac and Little Cayman,where you may opt for a quiet vacation or a dive vacation.There’s fantastic diving in the sister islands and other ways to have a very ac- tivity driven vacation.The Cayman Islands plays on our strengths.We are able to convey what you can do in the Cayman Islands.We understand that our neighbors offer the same warmweather and beautiful beaches, but we like to be able to say that this is howwe do it in the Cayman Islands, and we do it with the charm,warmth and the friendliness of our people. BVM: Talk about the future.You’ve got a good thing going.You’ve got numbers in your favor. What sorts of objectives do you have over the next couple of years? HARRIS: The Cayman Islands aim to be an engaging destination, a leader in marketing.We know that we have a quality product.We are one of the few destinations that actuallymonitor our hotel accommodations.We have a licensing structure,where all of our accommodations are inspected yearly, and I think that is a competitive edge.We are able to monitor,manage and know that there is a standard of quality that is present- ed to our visitors.We will also continue to garner the feedback from our visitors.Whatever they love about the Cayman Islands,we want to hear that. But we also want to know about the things we need to work on.That feedback loop is extremely important to deliver the right product, the right experience for our visitors.And, in terms of the future, I believe that the two major infrastructure projects with the airport and cruise berthing will certainly position the Cayman Islands for great- ness. In the interim,with all projects,we have to be sensitive to the impact of those initiatives, and that is certainly our short and medium-term goals. We have a lot of interest from developers and we gauge getting the right product mix.When the Cayman Islands hosts investors that approach and express an interest to develop here in the Cayman Islands,we want to be at the table to direct the conversation, so that it benefits the type of des- tination that we are.As a destination we want to be involved and support all of our partners and to deliver on the best Cayman Islands experience a visitor can have. INTERVIEW: ROSA HARRIS