Local Economy
The local economy tends to be concentrated in three areas which are probably typical for many Caribbean locales: tourism, municipal government, and local enterprises. Although on the Brac, the government (including Cayman Airways, the National carrier) is the largest employer. Some of the more economically prominent families in Grand Cayman originate from Cayman Brac, namely the Kirkconnell's, Foster's, Walton's, and Scott's. The majority of the tourism sector is concentrated on scuba diving, although this is in recent decline in the hospitality sector, with one of the two local hotels, Divi Resorts, having closed operations in 2006. The island's economy was also adversely impacted by significant damage from Category 4 Hurricane Paloma in November 2008.
A local enterprise that is nearly unique to Cayman Brac is its artists who work in a local stone known as Caymanite, typically making jewelry or small stone carvings. Two of these artists have been Mr. Eddie Scott and Mr. Tenson Scott, whose works have won national contests, as well as being the official gift to Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Andrew during the 1994 State Visit. For the 2011 Wedding of Prince William, the official gift was crafted by Mr. Horacio Esteban, who grew up on Cayman Brac and is currently living on Grand Cayman.
Gerrard Smith International Airport serves the island.
Read more about this topic: Cayman Brac
Famous quotes containing the words local and/or economy:
“[Urging the national government] to eradicate local prejudices and mistaken rivalships to consolidate the affairs of the states into one harmonious interest.”
—James Madison (1751–1836)
“Cities need old buildings so badly it is probably impossible for vigorous streets and districts to grow without them.... for really new ideas of any kind—no matter how ultimately profitable or otherwise successful some of them might prove to be—there is no leeway for such chancy trial, error and experimentation in the high-overhead economy of new construction. Old ideas can sometimes use new buildings. New ideas must use old buildings.”
—Jane Jacobs (b. 1916)