Running head: REFLECTION PAPER

Reflection Paper

Madelyn Ochoa
International College of the Cayman Islands

BE 434
Seminar on Travel and Tourism
Instructor: Melisa Bent-Hamilton
Tuesday, September 20th, 2016

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My name is Madelyn Ochoa during the five days of the travel and tourism seminar I
explored many things about the Cayman Islands that I never thought had existed for many years.
I chose to do this seminar because I knew it was going to be rich in knowledge. Our course
started with the speakers who gave us amazing speeches about the new projects in Grand
Cayman. They told us how people that work in the tourism industry of the Cayman Islands
promote the islands, how the hotels bring tourism to the islands and how local people play an
enormous role. At the end of the course, we visited Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little
Cayman. While we were there we examined the statistics of the resorts that we studied.
Even though the speakers were mostly foreigners they were extremely focused and clear
about the message they wanted to deliver to us. They welcomed our seminar group nicely. They
were very opened- minded and answered every students questions. Another fact about the
speakers is that they were in time for each speech and encouraged each of us to get involved in
the tourism industry, as it is a primary source of income in the Cayman Islands.
Travel and Tourism Topic Exploration
My seminar topic was How Firms Price Tourism Services. I explained to my classmates
and professor that firms that are involved in the tourism services set their prices and quantities of
services in several ways to maximize their profits. According to Reece (2010), price
discrimination is charging different prices for different sales of the same product or service. First,
a good example of price discrimination is that at the cinema they always have different prices for
adults, children and students. Second, at Ladies Night at Lillies Club, men must pay full price
for drinks, but women only 50% of the regular price.

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Along with the price discrimination is demand. The demand for goods is the relationship
between the price of a firms product or service and the amount of that product or service that
customers will buy. The relationship between the price and the number of sales is the demand for
the service every firm provides to its customers. Also, firms price tourism services by knowing
their revenue and marginal revenue. These two concepts are very risky. The marginal revenue is
made up of two parts; firms get more revenue by selling one more unit but they get less revenue
because they have to lower the price of the actual units they were already going to sell.
In addition, marginal revenue and marginal costs always have to be nearly in balance.
One rule firms follow is to increase output whenever marginal revenue is larger than marginal
cost, because that increases profit. If marginal cost is higher than marginal revenue then profit
will fall. Tourism firm may also use two-part tariffs to price discriminate; an example of a twopart tariff is an amusement park that charges both an admission fee and a fee per ride.
Therefore, I have learned that for price tourism services business owners have to employ
several strategies to sell their goods and services. In that way they can gain a profit. The key to
become a successful business owner is to understand demand, supply and consumer surplus
(willingness to pay and the actual price) in the tourism services. According to Matheson (2005),
price discrimination is widespread in the economy. Airlines charge lower prices for travelers
who book seats well in advance or who are willing to stay over on a Saturday night in order to
differentiate between recreational travelers who often have low budgets for vacations and
business travelers who have a high willingness to pay for flights. These firms use a myriad of
strategies involving price discrimination, especially in the tourism services. They know most of
the visitors come in different ages; adults, children, elders, or groups of people like families.

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The Seminar Experience
The seminar experience for me was very enjoyable and informative when it comes to the
hotel and tourism industry. I must confess I learnt a lot from the tours we did in Grand Cayman.
We started from the Ritz Carlton hotel, which is the Caymans biggest property, with the largest
employees. The resort manager Mr. Kapil Sharma, gave us all the financial statistics for the
expenses and income of the resort and the resulting contribution that the resort makes to the
Cayman Islands economy. For example, when they hired local employees the salary they have to
pay them, is beneficial to local people and the cost of the government room taxes and work
permits also benefit the economy. It surprised me when he told us the amounts of money tourists
are willing to pay in order to visit the Cayman Islands Ritz Carlton brand. He states, that their
largest room is 20,000 square feet in size and consists of 11 rooms. It costs an average of
US$40,000 per night. During the high season, the average cost per night for a room is
US$800.00, and they employ about 820 employees.
The Wyndham Reef Resort was an enjoyable part of our visit. The resort director Mr.
Gaetan Babin encouraged us to always be positive in our life and to put in effort so that we can
accomplish our goals. He told us to never forget to believe in ourselves, and that we can bring to
the islands more than we can imagine. He was open with the class sharing his history of traveling
and his life story. I think this resort brings job opportunities to the Cayman Islands too, especially
in the eastern districts. The nightlife we experienced on that same day was awesome as it was the
first time I had shared nightlife with a big group.
This memorable seminar in travel and tourism gave me the opportunity to explore our
sister islands and to discover many fabulous aspects of them. According to Reece W. (2010),

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tourism is traveling outside ones home area, usually taken to be 50 miles or more one way, and
returning within one year. The travel may be for business, leisure, visiting family or friends,
personal business, shopping, or many other purposes. Also, short trips in the course of everyday
local affairs, such as commuting to work, are not considered tourism.
These three islands have many attractions to offer to tourists. First, the Grand Cayman is
the largest of the three Cayman Islands. With over 50,000 residents, Grand Cayman is
approximately 76 square miles. It is on Grand Cayman the most popular Caribbean activities,
attractions, and festivals along with exquisite dining and exciting nightlife. Second, the Cayman
Brac, Named for its breathtaking 140 ft bluff, the Brac is a rugged and charming 14 square
miles and provides adventure seekers and nature lovers. Cayman Brac attractions include the
Cayman Brac Museum at Stake Bay, as well as numerous dramatic caves; such as Bat Cave,
Peters Cave and the Halfway Ground Cave. Finally, Little Cayman epitomizes the definition of
an island getaway. This beautiful island offers seclusion and striking scenery everywhere
visitors look, making it the perfect honeymoon island and a top Caribbean destination. With a
population of less than 170, most of Little Cayman remains uninhabited (Cayman Islands
Department of Tourism, 2016).
To tell the truth, from my perspective, tourists in the Cayman Islands enjoy a variety of
activities such as water sports from in the crystal sea. They also appreciate the tranquil
atmosphere, the safety and security of the islands, fine dining or casual dining, the locals bars
and the nightlife. They can also enjoy different activities that the hotels bring to them, but if
visitors want to explore the natural environment they should visit Cayman Brac and Little
Cayman.

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As I said before, tourism is a worldwide industry that helps countries to grow by
generating jobs and by bringing income to the government. For example, tourism creates jobs for
everyone; tour guides, hotel staff (bartender, housekeeping, front desk clerk, accounts etc.),
souvenir staff, water sport staff and others. Tourism generates income for the government; from
that income the government can improve new roads for the communities and develop new
airports. One result is that the infrastructure of public schools and hospitals can be improved.
Without a good infrastructure in the Cayman Islands tourism will not exist, as tourists love to
visit countries with good infrastructure. According to Doug Smith, Wyndham Hotel Group vice
president of development, 'Year after year, the Cayman Islands continue to be a popular tourist
destination, attracting nearly 1.7 million visitors annually (travel business, 2009).
The culture and history of the Cayman Islands play a tremendous part to bring tourism.
Our communities share our history with visitors so they can know where and how we become the
country what we are today. On interestingly, most of the visitors love to know the Cayman
Islands cultural heritage, such as our dance, food, drinks, music, phrases. The historical and
cultural heritage helps the Cayman Islands to reserve their own identity and to give visitors a
brief idea of the local life then and now.
This seminar it is related to our course book topics in the way we participate as a tourist
applying the knowledge of how was our experience with the Cayman Airways airplane. As we
noticed they had a high demand as we were a group of 18 people plus the other people they were
traveling to Cayman Brac as well. In order to fly with that amount of people they had to use their
biggest airplane. As soon we landed in the Cayman Brac we experienced the lodging and the
restaurants of the island. According to Reece W. (2010), the hospitality industry consists of many
activities and business, which may or may not be operated in combination. These include

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lodging, food service, beverage service, clubs, resorts, meetings, events, casinos, recreation,
entertainment and others.
Application of the Learning
I will be able to use this course as a tool to help my own professional growth in several
ways. I will be helpful with tourists who come to visit the island. For example, if a visitor comes
to me and ask me if I can help them to give the correct directions to the place they heading I will
not turn around I will be there to assist them. In the future I want to be involved in the tourism
association of the Cayman Islands as it takes a lot of work to promote the tourism and to bring
new projects to the islands.
My experience of the Cayman Islands has changed my mind so that I want to encourage
people to support tourism in the Cayman Islands. The tourism industry has becomes a worldwide
industry that provides wide open opportunities for local people and for students. Consequently, I
think every individual who lives permanently in the Cayman Islands should have knowledge of
the Cayman Island cultural heritage and know at least a little history about the islands, because
the majority of the visitors who come to the islands love to ask these primary questions to local
people.
Even though I already had a little experience in how to treat tourists, I learnt much in this
seminar. From this seminar, I can also answer my question of why the department of tourism had
created these workshops named Personal, Responsibility, In, Delivering, Excellence. These
workshops teach us to know the Cayman Islands history and cultural heritage. We need to know
how to treat tourists who come to the islands, as they are very important to us. However, what I
really wanted to do in my life came through with this seminar, as my dream was to visit the sister

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islands so that I could promote them by good word-of-mouth, I could encourage also local
people or students to visit our sisters islands as I did.
Limitations
Although the seminar was incredible of all the understanding we had, they were some
unavoidable limitations. First, because of the short trip and in the season we did this seminar we
did not had someone who gives us a speech of 1 or 2 resorts in Cayman Brac. It was going to be
more interesting if we were able to hear a speech from these resorts directors. In Little Cayman
only one resort was open for us to stay over. Second, we did not have the opportunity to explore
a cruise ship in Grand Cayman. Finally, was a Sunday that we arrived to Little Cayman, we
could not visit the museum; it was close.
Conclusion
In summary of this amazing experience I leant a little of everything especially from the
speakers who were able to give us a clear idea. How the resorts, water activities, sports
tournaments, infrastructure, government, local residents and hospitals are interconnected to bring
tourists to the islands. Also, the best part of this seminar was visited our sisters islands. I learnt
their history, culture and natural environment that embellishment these islands. Furthermore, Ms.
Melisa did a great job giving us the best memorial experience in the three islands; she made sure
everything was organized with the resorts and places that we visited. Also, she encouraged us to
direct questions to every speaker as in order to learn more.

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Reference
Department of Tourism (2016). Cayman Islands. About Cayman. Retrieved from
http://www.caymanislands.ky/aboutcayman.aspx
Matheson, V. (2005). Price Discrimination. In L. M. Salinger (Ed.), Encyclopedia of WhiteCollar and Corporate Crime (Vol. 2, pp. 628-631). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE
Reference. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com.ezp-02.lirn.net/ps/i.do?
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Travel Business ( 2009, January 29). Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure. Wyndham Hotel Group
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Reece W. (2010). The Economics of Tourism (1st Ed.). New Jersey. Pearson