Lower airfare to attract visitors, says CBO speaker
(CNS): One way to encourage visitors to get to a destination is to lower airfare, according to the Bahamas Minister for Tourism and Aviation, Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace, who spoke at last week’s Cayman Business Outlook conference, held at The Ritz-Carlton. This was critical, he said, because once visitors had received a good deal in their airfare they would be inclined to spend more in the destination itself. Embracing the digital age was another important move. “I am a great believer in the thought that God created man to create the Internet to help the tourism sector,” he said. “It’s the most efficient system ever created and yet large sectors of people are still not using it … The customer is now the reservation agent.”
Short stay visitors ought to be encouraged because they tend to spend more than those who have longer stays and people from nearby in the States ought to be specifically encouraged to visit places like Cayman because of their proximity and thus ease of travel to the jurisdiction.
There is no place for “ego” tourism in this current financial climate and destinations need to think about the bottom line when it comes to tourism, Vanderpool-Wallace said. He explained the value of tourists to an economy, saying that they spent more than locals but didn’t put a drain on schools or hospitals and they didn’t deplete natural resources.
“It’s a clean business and they contribute enormously to the economy,” he said. The problem was, he added, that each destination only had one shot at getting these important consumers to spend their money, so countries had to really work hard to get the most spend from visitors to their destination.
Focusing on core competencies was vital and diversification was not necessarily a panacea, he confirmed, stating that companies such as LVMH did so well because they concentrated on what they did best.
Destinations needed to work much harder at attracting visitors. “Tourism these days has little to do with flying and fopping,” he confirmed. “You need to create reasons to come to your destination.” He believed that sports and medical tourism initiatives were good ways to encourage more visitors.
The Caribbean was, Vanderpool-Wallace stated, the most tourism dependent region in the world. The region needed to make it a place where tourism talent gathered and was marketed all around the world, much like how Silicon Valley in California had become the IT hub of the world.
“Why aren’t we the HQ for tourism?” he asked. “We’ve got to stop relying only on other people who come to our shores. Tourism is a national business.”
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Category: Business
Speaking from an Aviation perspective-Take a look @ American Airlines and tell me whether CAL’s fares aren’t the same or lower than theirs? Even when a flight is sold at full capacity and at the fares that are currently available, those flights don’t or barely break-even. So imagine if the fares were lower? And as for those who don’t appreciate the little things that CAL still provides to its customers such as 2 bags and meals on long haul flights and those other lil options and services that they SPOIL you with, take a look at the competition and tell me if you all wont be paying the same or MORE for LESS with them??? Alot in this country feels that corporate companies such as CAYMAN Airways, CAYMAN National Bank and CAYMAN Water etc. are running a charity because of the word CAYMAN in their name!! You all need to realize that many of these companies are fighting with competition and when you lose your market share to your competition it takes alot of work to get it back. If CAL were to lower their fares, of course they maybe able to fill their flights but what does the competion go with??? The people who are willing to pay TOP DOLLAR for a seat that they may have happily paid for on CAL but because they weren’t able to get a seat they went with the competition. NOW, is there any certainity that CAL will get that customer back?? NO! I am sure that CAL is trying their very best to cater to all markets but I dont think they will be introducing 0.99 cent fares anytime soon!
One may say “lower” coast of airline fares but..One does not know how to keep an airline above ground…lowering airfares only means the airline will go down..In the long haul and none of you people will help it stay afloat correct?? Correct!!
Now Cayman on a whole is expensive i get complaints everyday…where i work right in the heart of the tourist coming and going…”the island is too expensive” over all…not the airfares they are willing but the to spent 46$ on A plate of food is to them a big turn off..the things they buy the don’t complain cause they can’t find but a burger and fries ..yeah seems to take the cake.. FOOD
We as in CAL still accept 2 free bags at 55ibs,(being one of the smallest airlines to operate) yet you people still complain but no one thanks CAL for anything good only the bad right?? Right!! Every other airline does not – its 1 bag at 50ibs ?!?!
We as in CAL still put on promotional fares as for – Valentines, Christmas and so forth and the fares be reasonable, come on…..
We as in CAL still provide a meal on long haul flights – other airlines nope!!! But yet still you people only see the bad you never appreciate the good — shake my head (smh)
If anyone was really watching tourism they would know that advertising is very very poor compared to other islands…you go away and sit in a hotel room 5 maybe 10 commercials every 30mins about Jamaica and Bahamas ect.. Cayman islands maybe twice for the hour and not to be rude but 1 of those commercials is made by Cayman airways ltd….soooo one would say everyone is looking at the wrong picture because most of our tourists DO NOT FLY in on CAL that is the truth they fly in on the other carries…
Soooo now think about it lol lol this “airfares sham” is only to better locals not foreigners one would say …looking at it from there point of view…
Soo when WE as in CAL lower flights to JFK and ORD and so forth and then have to raise flights to Cayman brac and Jamaica and after Miami to get more “tourist” from abroad lol what would you then say…??
Because like i said if CAL starts to go down will you help ??no !!and if you did would that not equal the same amount maybe even more to help CAL stay afloat smh..Sometimes people really need to think lol ….why everyone is upset is not for “Tourism” its for your better sake so please keep the negativity somewhere else….please.
Ps – WE as in CAL also has one of the best Customer Service Agents out of all the other airlines…(I being a part of it) and our – inflight department does exceptionally well over the rest…as well
When you go away and connect or come back do the people help you? Not really!! Do they smile??Not really!! Do they assist at the kiosk if you are confused? nooo lol they don’t…and I know this from first had experience…
Also OMG if the airline is delayed or cancelled you never hear the end of it but if we sent that aircraft into the air knowing something was wrong with it and the plane God forbid goes down you would then want to then sue and all that butch of stuff right lol lol sometimes when you are so soo caught up on the petty issues only to better yourself, you over look the bigger problems which has to do with the whole operation….and there is never an I in TEAM …
WRONG!!!
People generally can’t get past the first expense they pay. If its the airline then they may not even make it to the rooms.
As a tourist to the US and anywhere the first grief I go thru is getting the airline tickets. I can tell you for a fact if the tickets are expensive I might never know how much the rooms cost.
The first step in the battle is lowering ticket prices and becoming a low cost destination.
The next stage is CITA getting all of their players on board to lower cost of traveling to Cayman. This means hotels, restaurants, taxis, etc. We need to change the way we play the game and adapt to the changing environment we now live in. People will no longer take their money for granted and just go where they want they will look for deals.
After CITA and its members jump on board CIG namely DOT needs to change its ad Campaign to something that represents an affordable destination with high class reputation.
Then Big Mac needs to do what he said he would do and that’s take a serious look at places like Panama to see if we can become a transport hub for people traveling from South America to the US and back. With the same stroke they will open up products from Panama to be sold here giving CAL Cargo a much needed shot in the arm.
Thsi will be good overall for Cayman as the lower cost products will help to somewhat lower the cost of living.
Listen as for CAL the concept is simple and it should work the way I say. If ticket prices go down CAL seat sales will go up. They will go up for two reasons. First Caymanians can now afford to run to Miami more often and second visitors will take a fresh look at Cayman as being more affordable.
What will this mean? Well say CAL revenue drops some because they don’t make back what they gave up well CIG tax might go up and offset some if not all that is lost. Overall the Cayman Islands comes out the winner because you will have more hotel rooms filled meaning more CIG taxes, more restaurant sales meaning more duties, more taxis or car rentals which means more gas which means more duties. More people at Supermarkets means more duties.
There is an old saying business and it goes "You have to spend money to make money". This is how you spend the money. Change the face of the game. What we had was good but the game and the rules are changing and we need to be able to adapt. This is how you do it.
I would even say maybe a flight to the ABC Islands might not be a bad idea to create a further link to South America and also create a situation where people could visit both the Cayman Islands and Aruba in one trip.
PS – I worked at CAL and I love CAL but lets get real. Do you think as a tourist thinking about going on a vacation I think about bags or meals? Really!! I have just had a horid year and I need to relax and unwind and my finances are not that great do you honestly think I’m there saying "Huuummm but at least on CAL I am going to get a meal". Seriously. NO. It’s about the cost of those 3 or 4 tickets. I say why do I spend an extra US$2,000 and fly to Cayman when I can get beaches in Miami. I say what about Bahamas or Jamaica. Do you know I could save almost US$500 to fly to Montego Bay on airfare alone? Same goes for Bahamas and hotel pricing will be better also.
I was stupid and bought one of those timeshares on East End. I paid full price instead of buying on EBay and now I’m trapped into going to Cayman every year after year after year…. I spend a lot of money every year in Cayman so yes it would be nice to get a cheap airfare. When we started coming to Cayman airfare was 200 round trip on Sun Country…that was a long time ago.
Everyone in our tourist industry, in fact everyone in the Cayman Islands, should get a copy of Minister Vanderpool-Wallace’s speech. It was eye opening.
With leaders/visionaries in the industry such as the gentleman from the Bahamas, the Cayman Islands is likely to continue to loose ground. We need to step up our national discourse to this level and end the parochial bickering.
His delivery was exceptional, knowledge based and thoughtful. I shows why the Bahamas topped over 5 Million tourists last year and why we struggled to a lofty trend setting number of 300K by aircraft and 1.3M on cruise.
CNS it would be great if there was a link to this speech or the ability to download it.
I have given tourists a lift, who went to the airport to see their friends off and they are thumbing a ride back to their hotel/condo on the West Bay road, because they turned in the rental they had. The explanation being, they are leaving on a later flight and they are washing before their departure. My husband and I live on the eastern side of the island, but felt that by extending the good old caymanian hospitality to them, would give them the desie to visit the islands again.
It is not to say that some are not willing to spend a dollar on a fare, but sometimes you have to go out of your way to prove a point. They may just be cheap or are just trying to test your generosity. We win or lose. We have to go out of our way to fight the war that’s being waged on our shores against the locals.
There are beach front condos sitting empty while their owner’s property managers attempt to flog them to gullible snow birds at USD$30,000 a month plus 20%. Rather than lowering the rental prices, property managers are simply shrugging their shoulders and blaming the economy. It’s time for this segment to align their expectations with the times.
A follow to my comment, I absolutely believe in a cabdrivers right to make a living and I understand that $5 a gallon gas and high insurance rates mean the fare will be higher than elsewhere. So yes $10-15 bucks from the Ritz to town is reasonable… $25 from SMB to West Bay eatting establishments is reasonable.
Airport to West Bay $40… East End … ouch fares…
This would allow any decent cab driver to make a living and sleep at night.
Oh and this business of charging per passenger and/or taking two different fares and then charging them both full price… come on….
I tell ya, I see lots of tourists flagging down local buses and walking … word spreads fast … and all the cab drivers are doing themselves and our islands a disservice.
I would like to see others post cab fares they’ve been charged. I had one … from Automotive Art to Bayshore Mall… she asked me for $40… I was like lady… seriously… I’ve been in your cab for what… six minutes… $25 and she was cursing me out as I got out of her taxi.
Tell me about it…. Fosters strand to the airport. Was charged CI 48.
when airfare was $365-$385 for flights from my fair city in the northern USA, we came with our family for a week. renting a car was not expensive after reading about the taxis rates online. we had a great time two years in a row.
this year, airfare was > $700 and the increasing crime reports made us uneasy, so we went to aruba for $450.
aruba had nice enough beaches not quite as nice as smb, better pools for kids, and more nightlife and things to do and explore. people were as friendly or more friendly, though havent met anyone super unfriendly in cayman. prices in the grocery store were the same or less. weather was warmer and windier.
bottom line is airfare is a big driver of tourists especially families that buy 5-6 tickets and rent condos.
It’s not just airfare that needs to be lowered. If we bring them here for $150 and then charge them $80 for a fifteen minute taxi ride to their hotel which is about 5-6 miles from the airport.
We absolutely need meters in these taxi cabs and we need published fares CLEARLY DISPLAYED ON THE BACK SEAT … by law…
All the kindness in the world isn’t going to make up for the fact that many cab drivers on the island are robbing … yea, I used the word ‘robbing’ our tourists.
Ritz to town is 2.1 miles… the ride takes less than ten minutes and I am so tired of hearing people say they were charged $60.
A couple of weeks ago I was speaking with a couple who were staying on SMB at Morgan’s Harbour … they told me that the cab ride from SMB to Morgan’s Harbour was $80 which was outrageous and more than their combined check for diner.
I drove them back to their hotel… and they were clearly upset with being charged that amount of money for ride of seven miles.
I got a flat once near Beach Bay Road and a cab driver wanted to charge me $75 to drive me to the Texaco station near Countryside… I walked it in about ten minutes.
Decent taxi regulation would do more to keep the overnight tourists we do get than any of this "CaymanKind" nonsense. And it would be cheap.
Meters are not even necessary – but would help. You are right, Marek, a clear map and fare table is all we need.
This is why we in Cayman need a Cayman Campaign and all stakeholders need to get involved. When I say all I mean:
1) Cayman Airways Limited – Every good vacation starts with good fares. PERIOD!@
2) Hotels – They need to be able to afford to sleep. Right now rooms at resorts are going for US$500 + per night and I say SERIOUSLY!! People want to be able to return but what kind of taste are you leaving in their mouths? I am not talking Ritz Carlton either OR a Master Suite. This was a simple deluxe room.
3) Restaurants – Come on $3 fountain soda? What is your cost? $0.40?? maybe. Do you think guest do not see this? The meal prices are not so bad but do things to get them to come back such as offering a 10% off their next meal when leaving your establishment.
4) Taxis – Taxi fares have gone through the roof. My poor father was a taximan for years and EVEN HIM complained about how high the fares were. You should not expect to fill your cab on one fare. CI$40 to any place on Cayman is HIGH. God we can travel from one side of the Island to the other in 1hr. Dbling and tripling because more than 1 passneger is equally stupid. The Taxi association needs to be reigned in on. THEY are KILLING CAYMAN.
5) Watersports – You need to help out also. 15% to 25% off discounts. Returning customers get extra 5% discount. Buy 3 4th is free. Those kinds of things.
CITA needs to bring its members to bare that Cayman needs to lower it’s cost on activities. We can no longer think of ourselves as a middle to high class destination because the high class got to that status by saving money.
Fact is we are in a whole new world now and we need to adapt or get swallowed up in the current of change.
DOT new campaign is Cayman, we’re changing EVERYTHING! or Cayman is ONSALE!!
Something to signify we are not teh same old ball and chain we once were.
We need to go for volumn and forget trying to win the lotto off of every customer that walks into our store or sits in our cab. We need to become a low cost destination.
Let me finish with this. If and when Cuba opens up, if we do not have our act together we are in some deep deep you know what. Cuba has so much more to offer and the prices will murder us. We need to act now to establish ourselves before this happens.
"…God created man to create the internet to help the tourism sector." I did not know that.
Oh cumon, its sooooooooo obvious.
No one wants to visit me here because of the ridiculous costs. Its more expensive for them to fly here than it is for them to go to an all inclusive 2 weeks elsewhere… and that’s with my offering free lodging.
How about reducing the cost of rental cars? And having rental companies that need to have cars that meet a minimum safety standard. Last car i was driving from XXXX stalled on me on west bay rd while I was driving. The steering locked first. Another car had almost no brakes to talk of from XXXX. I doubt any of the cars are safety tested.
So why would someone come here when its $1200 to rent a beater for a month, the flights are ridiculous, and lets not get started on the hotels.
I have run into the same issue of not having friends and familyvisit here because of the high cost. There are many places in the world where someone can relax and enjoy themselves at a fraction of the cost. It would be nice if Cayman was a more financially inviting tourism destination.
Where are you coming from? Cayman has the least expensive car rental in the region and way better than the USA. They kill you with all the add-ons’. I have had issues with cars rented from the likes of Hertz and National there too. Please note that we have a yearly inspection of road worthyness for all cars in the Cayman Islands. its not like other places where you they do not have a program of legal inspections or you are able to pay off an official to let the junks through.
Coming from the States. My comment was about the costs of visiting Cayman generally not the cost of car rental specifically. I’ve never had any issues with renting a car here.
Actually, drum roll… get ready for it. US Car Rental companies are EXEMPTED from inspections and worse… under their fleet agreements with the manufacturers… they don’t turn their cars in for recalls.
Yep, you read that right… and totally agree with the add on charges stuff.
Problem with a super early AM flight… never time to gas up the car… so the car always needs 3-4-5 gallons when I drop it off… US gas prices $3-ish… you know what they charge… holy crap … $8.50 a gallon to top up your rental at the airport.
That is utter nonsense. I’ve hired a couple of cars in Cayman and in the states I have hired many times (unfortunately) and the value in the US is much better. The car is always years newer, the check-in check out is much simpler and faster and the costs cheaper. Whoever says otherwise is either guessing, or an over-patriotic Caymanian or owns a rental car franchiose here.
Oh and everybody knows the inspection inCayman is complete waste of time. The amount of people that get waved through because they know the guy or have connections make a farce of the whole system.
Both of the rentals I have had in Cayman, the car has been an antique and ran like a bag of nails.
LOL, I’ve rented and been a passenger in well-used rental cars on Grand Cayman that weren’t remotely roadworthy.
In fairness to the rental companies in general they did all came from just two sources but surely things like brakes, wipers and lights that don’t work, doors that don’t latch properly, seatbelts that are useless, bald tires and mufflers that drag along the road are inspection failures. If not, why not?
One car (that was returned immediately) had a one inch gap at the top of the driver’s door that was letting the rain in where it had been forced open at some time. The bottom line was that the cars weren’t looked after and were being rented out despite being well past their ‘best before’ date.
The other issue is about insurance. The late Ken Chand once warned me that the majority of Cayman rental companies couldn’t, or wouldn’t, get full CDW on their vehicles so if the vehicle was a complete write off the hirer was potentaily liable for the replacement cost, regardless of whatever level of insurance cover they thought they had purchased.
In 1992 I paid $1800.00 for a rental car for 28 days in Miami? what is your problem?
Should have booked in advance and saved a packet. Don’t be moaning on here just cos you’re so dumb.
Who are you calling an idiot. That’s $1200 without insurance which would have doubled it for the cheapest economy car.
An economy car is $800 max in miami without insurance if you book in advance which I did.
And in Miami I get something that runs.
Oh and I should add for the record that I have probably significantly more experience renting cars than you. I no longer own a car as I travel almost all the time so I rent cars full time.
The only place that has costs that might be higher is Australia. I’m there from Feb 8th to March 20th and with taxes its costing me $1250 for the car rental. But I can promise you that the car will run, will not have dents, and will have working brakes.
After that in Maui for a month and the car rental is $660 from Advantage and its a full size car that would be considered a premium car here that would rent out for $3000 in the Caymans.
All quotes without insurance. And I’m sorry if I refuse to pay double to be covered. I know how to drive.
Please take your misguided patriotism elsewhere. Look up a car on hotwire.com or expedia without insurance in miami and tell me how much an economy car there costs you compared to here. Then check the cost of an suv or premium car compared to here.
And don’t forget in Miami you will get a nice car with no dents. You also wont be given crap for calling in that the car wont start and the battery needs replacing as I have h ad done here.
Should have booked in advance and saved a packet. Don’t be moaning on here just cos you’re so dumb.
That’s $65 a day with taxes and insurance… normal enough. That’s pretty cheap even considering it was … some time ago.
Of course, the travelling public will not know about Cayman’s lowered airfares and other DOT travel incentives unless our marketing/domain admins learn how to successfully distribute their messages and event schedules via up-to-date web sites and modern social media. The national marketing web presence is an amateur effort in its current state. Case in point, if you go to the DOT’s YouTube page, they have only 64 subscribers "following them". The US Air Nonstop Fall Special from 2010 was viewed a mere 40 times! The new CaymanKind Ad, only 25 times. These should have 100,000’s of views to have any real impact on tourism. I would encourage the more net savvy to subscribe to our national marketing YouTube account and propagate your favorite video links via your facebook and twitter accounts. Every little bit will help get the message out there! Some of the ads are actually very good, and I for one am proud to share them! http://www.youtube.com/user/CaymanTourism
How about charging visitors the same price as locals when going to the Turtle Farm, Pedro St. James, etc…. It makes more sense to lower the rate to local prices and have more people visit these attractions. Trust me as an American when I first arrived on island I couldn’t believe how expensive it was to visit the local attractions. Americans suffer serious sticker shock when it comes to making purchases and visiting attractions in Cayman.
I was just at my dive shop yesterday and we were just discussing this very same subject. In the past they have taken groups down to Cayman but for now, he says it is cost prohibitive. He cannot get enough people together who want to spend the kind of $$$ Cayman wants for their product. And who can blame them? This very well could be the first year in many that we do not visit Grand Cayman ourselves. The cost coupled with rampant crime have made Grand way less appealing.
My family has been traveling to Grand and the Brac for 18 years now. Grand Cayman no longer holds the charm and serenity it once possessed. Sad state of affairs to be sure.
I have been saying this for years.Why not give it a try and see how it goes?Nothing tried nothing gained.Think outside the box for once PEOPLE.
I believe lowering of the airfare is a good first step but I also believe that CITA should follow suit and ask its members to also make a move to cut prices as well.
Maybe CITA should setup a site that offered discounts on everything from restaurants to watersports where people could print off and bring with them. This would tell them that people are finding their site and taking advantage of the offers.
Cayman needs to go ON SALE
Spot on!
Lower airfares…we will come!
P.S. Did you hear about the weather in the Northeast US?? And…you don’t think we want to get out of here??? 50 plus inches of snow already on the ground with 2 months of winter left!!!
Lowering our own airfare is the only way to go. Everyone should get involved in this including hotels, car rentals and restaurants, and the major duty free stores. Last add seen on tv regarding the Bahamas: companions flies for free, kids eat for free backed by a major hotel. Why can’t we do something similar including our attractions as well. rental condos could be involved including car rental ;rebate at certain restaurants etc.
Oddly enough, there ARE travel incentive programs that run here periodically. It is just that they are communicated poorly to the public, and the web resources and event schedules are incomplete or are out of date.
Reducing air fares is a good idea but it takes more to fill the seats – look what happened to Spirit’s service to Cayman. Even if you give the flights away people still think twice about paying $250 a night for a glorified motel room.
The crucial thing that any Caribbean destination needs to look at is the total cost of holidays because that is the determining factor for many tourists.
Attracting visitors is now, as all the big European tour operators have found, very much about offering attractive all-inclusive packages. People like the idea of being able to budget, book and pay for their holidays well in advance without worrying about additional costs at the destination. It’s an area of tourism that Grand Cayman has never really seemed able to develop.
True, AI package customers tend not to spend vast amounts outside their resorts but they do provide long-term employment and predictable income for the hotels, things that short stay visitors cannot.
One problem that I found with Spirit Air was that I would have to connect and the connection did not make it early enough…so I would have to pay for an overnight stay before I even arrived in GC. Same thing on the return. Was not any savings for me!!
Also, the travel deals for GC are great for people who have travel flexibility. We need lower airfares so the general population who has to travel at specific times can afford GC.