by Donald Wood
Last updated: 2:08 PM ET, Thu July 23, 2020
Officials from the Cayman Islands have announced plans for the phased return of tourism beginning on September 1.
The Cayman Islands' Department of Tourism Minister Moses Kirkconnell launched the comprehensive strategic tourism reinvention plan Wednesday, dubbed The Road Back to 500K (RB5).
The RB5 was designed to build on the main goals of the National Tourism Plan (NTP) 2019 - 2023, which was implemented just weeks before the coronavirus outbreak. The purpose of both plans is to lead tourism effectively, safely, responsibly and sustainably into the future.
The recovery strategy focuses on several key priorities, including developing methodologies to reactivate the tourism sector, stimulating the economy by encouraging domestic travel, launching new global marketing and promotions and bolstering employment in the tourism industry to offset the impact of the viral pandemic.
"The business of tourism is an undeniably strong sector, encompassing a plethora of industries that are directly tourism-based as well as those that feed into the industry through a variety of services," Kirkconnell said. "I am confident that the RB5 plan provides the best way forward for a purposefully paced economic recovery that will see the country gradually return to the milestone years of record-breaking stayover and cruise visitation."
"This will be accomplished in a phased approach that includes creating more opportunities for Caymanians to be part of our tourism industry, embracing the opportunity to rebalance the workforce from majority work permit holders to having more well trained and highly qualified Caymanian faces delivering the Caymankind customer service we are known for as a Caribbean destination," Kirkconnell continued.
Kirkconnell announced last week that all international tourists arriving in the Cayman Islands would be required to present a negative coronavirus test 72 hours before entering the country. They will then be required to self-quarantine for five days and submit a second negative test before being permitted to freely roam the tropical paradise.
Government officials in the Cayman Islands announced there is no hard cap on the number of visitors allowed on the island at any one time, saying the there are several factors to consider, including "the number of people who leave on repatriation flights."
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