by Brian Major
Last updated: 11:00 AM ET, Tue May 6, 2025
Cayman Island
voters delivered a firm “no” vote this past week in a national referendum on whether
or not the Caribbean territory should construct fixed cruise ship piers.
Slightly more
than two-thirds (64.5 percent) of voters (or 11,973 people) voted against the controversial plan in a public referendum that accompanied the
country’s April 30 general elections. Only 28.8 percent of Cayman voters, or
5,417 people, supported the pier proposal.
Plans to build
cruise piers in the Cayman Islands extend back more than a decade as the destination
remains one of the Caribbean’s most-visited cruise ports without a fixed pier.
The most recent referendum did not include a specific plan but simply asked
voters if the Cayman Islands should develop cruise berthing infrastructure.
Local
sustainable tourism group CPR Cayman, which campaigned against the pier proposal,
said the vote sent a “loud and clear” message.
“The new
government has to honor the result,” the group said in a statement reported in the
Cayman Compass. The proposal was never “a top-five priority” for voters and was
too vague, the group said.
The referendum
lacked “pertinent details, cost projections and failed to address the concerns
the public expressed regarding the legitimate environmental, financial and
socio-economic concerns,” said CPR Cayman officials in the Compass report.
In a Facebook
post, The Association for Cruise Tourism (ACT), which lobbied for passage of the
referendum and the construction of cruise ship piers in a series of public
meetings, said it was “unhappy” with the verdict, but respected voters’ choice.
“While we are
deeply disappointed by the result and concerned about the likely negative
impact this will have on our sector, we remain committed to advocating for a
sustainable and competitive cruise tourism industry,” the group said.
“The
livelihoods of many Caymanians are tied to this vital pillar of our economy,
and ACT will continue to work toward securing long-term opportunity for our
people and our country,” they added. ACT’s membership includes tour operators, retailers,
restaurants, bars and transportation providers.
It now remains to
be seen how the destination’s cruise ship calls progress in future years. Cruise
lines have increasingly been reluctant to transport guests to shore aboard
ever-larger ships ashore via tender boats.
As a result say cruise industry figures, Cayman Islands cruise arrivals have
declined sharply since 2022. Fewer than four years ago, local voters defeated a
referendum to construct the country’s first fixed cruise pier.
Cayman Islands voters
also approved the decriminalization of personal-use amounts of cannabis and establishment
of a national lottery as part of the April 30 referendum.
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