George Town, Grand Cayman, Thursday 10 September 2020: The Ministry of Commerce, Planning and Infrastructure is pleased to announce its first virtual festival – Experience Cayman – launching this October with a schedule of online experiences centred  around shopping, eating, staying and playing on-island, all designed to inspire Cayman Islands residents to support local and Experience Cayman.

“With many local businesses working to rebuild after closing for months and others not able to operate to their full potential until international borders reopen, it has never been more important to support local and Experience Cayman,” says Commerce, Planning and Infrastructure Minister Hon. Joey Hew. “Experience Cayman is firstly a hub of online experiences and resources for people to find new ways to experience our islands and discover new small businesses and artisans, and secondly a rally cry for residents to help support and propel economic recovery in our country’s time of need.”

The festival will have eight virtual arenas, covering Heritage and Culture, Food and Beverage, Kids’ Activities, Wellness, Arts and Music, Retail, Domestic Tourism and Hospitality for people to browse and partake in unique online experiences from some of the Cayman Islands’ most interesting businessowners, creators, thought leaders and personalities, as well as an online Marketplace showcasing all participating businesses.

To champion the campaign’s important message, encourage local consumers to spend their dollars locally and experience all our islands have to offer, the Ministry has launched an open call inviting businesses and entrepreneurs across Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman to sign-up to be a part of the Experience Cayman virtual festival. Participation is free of charge and includes a broad spectrum of promotional support from Experience Cayman for the duration of the festival period.   

“We are encouraging people to participate in Experience Cayman by: submitting a piece of content that showcases their service, product or attraction for the domestic market; submitting details on their upcoming events or initiatives to be promoted through Experience Cayman platforms; or register their interest to be included in a select line-up of Experience Cayman-produced festival content,” explains Colin Lumsden, the Ministry’s George Town Manager & Revitalization Initiative Coordinator.

The free virtual festival is set to launch in October and will run for eight weeks. To learn more about Experience Cayman or to sign-up to participate in the campaign, visit www.experiencecayman.ky 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 an eight-week 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.experiencecayman.ky.