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.