News

Following the successful Seaspice epicurean gala event, the Cayman Islands Tourism Association (CITA) is donating funds raised from the event to two local charities.

Both, The Ark Foundation (ARK) and Feed Our Future are assisting people and families and their support of the community is even more important during the border closures caused by the global pandemic.

President of the CITA, Mr. Marc Langevin, said “Both of these charities are doing fantastic work to assist people in need. Feed our Future provides low cost or free school meals to children in public and private schools and their services are needed even more during the downturn of the tourism economy.”

ARK's programs help the underprivileged and those affected by illness, economic hardship, and personal misfortune. Treasurer of the CITA, Mr. Marcus Mueri, worked closely with the ARK during the early days of the lockdown. “It seems the demand for the services ARK provides doubled since the lockdown and most of those people are from the tourism industry. We are proud as an association to help and support our members whilst we collaborate with all Government agencies how we can return to prosperity. Tourism is the entertainment for the island and represents 20% of GDP.”

CITA raised a total of 13,293.93 CI dollars from the Seaspice raffle. The CITA partnered with the R3 Cayman Foundation (R3) which is a charitable organisation that focuses on disaster Readiness, Relief, and Recovery in the Cayman Islands. R3 graciously agreed to match the CITA donation, so that each charity receives the full amount.

“Over the past year, organisations like Cayman’s Acts of Random Kindness and Feed Our Future have been a vital support to those most severely impacted by the pandemic, endeavouring to help individuals and families put food on the table, and stay connected to water or electricity services. Although many of us are fortunate enough to have regained a sense of normalcy in our daily lives, there are individuals and families in our community who are still struggling from the economic impacts of the pandemic. R3 is proud to be able to double the impact of CITA’s fundraising for these impactful charities through matching funds from the Kenneth B. Dart Foundation,” said Mr. Bryan Hunter, R3 Chairman

The CITA continues to work closely with various entities of the Cayman Islands Government including the Ministry and Department of Tourism, The Airports Authority, Customs and Border Control and WORC, among others, to create a safe reopening plan for the return of visitors to our shores.