Relationship Between Cruise-ship Tourism And Stay-over Tourism: A Case Study of the Shift In the Cayman Islands' Tourism Strategy

Abstract

Like all Caribbean destinations, the Cayman Islands has two sectors of tourism: stay-over tourism and cruise-ship tourism. Before the 1990s, the official Cayman Islands' tourism strategy placed more emphasis on the stay-over sector. After the significant drop in the number of stay-over visitors in the late 1990s, the official stance shifted, placing more emphasis on the cruise-ship sector with the intent of converting cruise ship visitors into stay-over visitors. This study investigates the simultaneous relationship between the two sectors. Results suggest that in terms of the number of visitors generated to each other a) both sectors of tourism are simultaneously related, b) stay-over tourism is a substitute for cruise-ship tourism, and c) cruise-ship tourism is a complement to stay-over tourism. Policy makers should therefore note that while stay-over tourism is a substitute for cruise-ship tourism, cruise-ship is actually a complement to stay-over tourism.