The Ministry of Commerce, Planning and Infrastructure’s Experience Cayman Virtual Festival Encourages Residents to Shop Local for the Holidays

George Town, Grand Cayman, Thursday, 5 November 2020: Experience Cayman, the Cayman Islands’ first virtual festival, will release its November line-up on Friday, 6 November, featuring more than 20 additional local businesses and entrepreneurs to its schedule of online experiences designed to encourage Cayman Islands residents to support local and experience all the things to do, see, eat and drink on-island.

Hosted by the Ministry of Commerce, Planning and Infrastructure with support from the Cayman Islands Chamber of Commerce, the Cayman Islands Department of Tourism, the Cayman Islands Small Business Association, the Cayman Islands Tourism Association and Celebrate Cayman, supporting local is at the heart of the festival and members of the public can roam around the virtual festival grounds and find inspiration from the amazing performances, tutorials and speakers, all designed to help residents to rediscover, support and Experience Cayman.

“The activities, talks, and workshops have been put together by more than 70 inspirational local businessowners and entrepreneurs from across retail, food and beverage, music and culture, hospitality and wellness,” says Commerce, Planning and Infrastructure Minister Hon. Joey Hew. “As a Ministry, we hope you will continue to support our local businesses through the holidays and beyond, including the handful featured on Experience Cayman, many of whom are still struggling to recover from the coronavirus pandemic and as international boarders continue to carefully reopen.”

Here are some reasons why you should Experience Cayman and support local this holiday season:

It will help to support and sustain our local economy: Small businesses make up a huge majority of our local economy. By making the decision to spend your money at small independent businesses, this helps to generate further spending with other local businesses creating a continuous self-supporting cycle and a larger direct impact on everything from local employment to the environment.

It will help to create local jobs: Local businesses provide local employment, create self-employment opportunities, and promote entrepreneurship. The more successful local businesses we have, the more staff they are able to take on and the more job opportunities there will be for the local community.  

It’s not always cheaper to shop online: While shopping locally is often cited as more expensive than shopping overseas, even if you take out travel expenditure, when you factor in international transfer fees, shipping and delivery costs, and fees and duties when bringing goods to island, the costs can often add up to the same or higher than shopping on-island.

Gift more unique and locally made products: Many of our local businesses stock items which are made locally and are unique to Cayman, providing a great choice of original, one-of-a-kind products that aren’t mass produced.

Get a trusted recommendation: Our local businesses are known for their excellent rapport with their local customers. The opportunity to form a connection and personal relationship with local retailers means the owners have a better understanding of your requests and preferences and are prolific in providing for your needs. 

It is better for the environment: By shopping locally and reducing consumers’ additional needs for international shipping, which requires a lot of energy, you are helping to reduce our carbon footprint when you shop locally.

“Experience Cayman is an impressive directory for everything you could possibly need in our new normal,” adds Colin Lumsden, the Ministry’s George Town Manager & Revitalization Initiative Coordinator. “Our mission is to spread the word about the independent businesses which make up a huge part of the Cayman Islands’ wonderfully diverse identity and highlight the many opportunities for shopping, dining and experiencing local for everyone on your gifting list.”

Virtual arenas within the festival include a Heritage Corner hosted by the Cayman Islands Department of Tourism, Cayman Kitchen hosted by the Cayman Islands Tourism Association, Shopping Village hosted by the Cayman Islands Chamber of Commerce, The Campsite, Sand Garden hosted by the Cayman Islands Small Business Association, The Bandstand hosted by Celebrate Cayman, The Waterfront, Family Playground and Heritage Corner hosted by the Ministry of Commerce, Planning and Infrastructure. All participating vendors also feature in The Marketplace directory, making it even easier for residents to support them offline.

The festival runs until Sunday, 13 December with more online experiences being added to the line-up over the coming month. To explore the Experience Cayman virtual festival or to sign-up to participate in the festival’s December line-up, visit www.gov.ky/experiencecayman or follow Experience Cayman on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/ExperienceCayman) and Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/experience_cayman/).  

About Experience Cayman

Experience Cayman is a free virtual festival hosted by the Ministry of Commerce, Planning & Infrastructure, featuring an ongoing online schedule of passionate people showcasing the best things to do, see, eat and drink in the Cayman Islands. Explore our virtual festival areas and find inspiration from the amazing performances, virtual tours, how-to tutorials and discussions from local businesses and personalities that help to make the Cayman Islands so special.

The Experience Cayman virtual festival is completely free, but we encourage you to support our participating local vendors by shopping and dining with them or trying out one of their incredible offerings, services or excursions. Find out more at www.gov.ky/experiencecayman.