The Cayman Islands

Friday, 18 September 2015 - 07:18 am (CET/MEZ) Berlin | Author/Destination:
Category/Kategorie: General
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Grand Cayman - Goerge Town - Welcome to the Cayman Islands - Owen Roberts International Airport © Lhb1239

Grand Cayman – Goerge Town – Welcome to the Cayman Islands – Owen Roberts International Airport © Lhb1239

The Cayman Islands is a British Overseas Territory and overseas territory of the European Union located in the western Caribbean Sea. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Little Cayman, and Cayman Brac, located south of Cuba and northwest of Jamaica. The Cayman Islands are considered to be part of the geographic Western Caribbean Zone as well as the Greater Antilles. The territory is a major world offshore financial centre.

The Cayman Islands are a major international financial centre. The biggest sectors are “banking, hedge fund formation and investment, structured finance and securitization, captive insurance, and general corporate activities.” Regulation and supervision of the financial services industry is the responsibility of the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA). The Cayman Islands are the fifth-largest banking centre in the world, with $1.5 trillion in banking liabilities. There are 279 banks (as of June 2008), 19 of which are licensed to conduct banking activities with domestic (Cayman-based) and international clients, the remaining 260 are licensed to operate on an international basis with only limited domestic activity. Financial services generated CI$1.2 billion of GDP in 2007 (55% of the total economy), 36% of all employment and 40% of all government revenue. In 2010, the country ranked fifth internationally in terms of value of liabilities booked in the Cayman Islands and sixth in terms of assets booked. It has branches of 40 of the world’s 50 largest banks. The Cayman Islands are the second largest captive domicile in the world with more than 700 captives, writing more than US$7.7 billion of premiums and with US$36.8 billion of assets under management.

One of Grand Cayman’s main attractions is Seven Mile Beach, on which a number of the island’s hotels and resorts are located. Historical sites in GCM, such as Pedro St. James Castle in BoddenTown, also attract visitors. Tourists also visit the Sister Islands, Little Cayman and Cayman Brac.

Stingray City on a sandbar 45 mins from Grand Cayman © flickr.com - Fevi Yu Grand Cayman - Rum Point © Visa1410 Grand Cayman - Hurricane signs at Rum Point © Lhb1239 Grand Cayman - George Town - Waterfront © flickr.com - Fevi Yu Grand Cayman - George Town - Cayman Islands National Museum © Lhb1239 Grand Cayman - Seven Mile Beach Panorama © AxeEffect Grand Cayman - Goerge Town - Welcome to the Cayman Islands - Owen Roberts International Airport © Lhb1239
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Grand Cayman - Goerge Town - Welcome to the Cayman Islands - Owen Roberts International Airport © Lhb1239
All three islands offer scuba diving, and the Cayman Islands are home to several snorkeling locations, where tourists can swim with stingrays. The most popular area to do this is Stingray City, Grand Cayman. There are two shipwrecks off the shores of Cayman Brac, including the MV Keith Tibbetts; Grand Cayman has several shipwrecks off its shores. The USS Kittiwake was decommissioned on 30 September 1994 and struck from the Naval Vessel Register on the same day. Her title was transferred in November 2008 for an undisclosed amount to the government of the Cayman Islands. The Cayman Islands government intended to use Kittiwake to form a new artificial reef. Originally intended to be sunk in June 2009, she was finally sunk off Seven Mile Beach, Grand Cayman on 5 January 2011.

Other Grand Cayman tourist attractions include the Ironshore landscape of Hell, the 23-acre (93,000 m2) marine theme park Boatswain’s Beach, also home of the Cayman Turtle Farm, the production of gourmet sea salt, and the Mastic Trail, a hiking trail through the forests in the centre of the island. The NationalTrust for the Cayman Islands provides guided tours weekly on the Mastic Trail and other locations.

Points of interest include the East End Light (sometimes called Gorling Bluff Light) is a lighthouse located at the east end of Grand Cayman island in the Cayman Islands. The lighthouse is the centerpiece of East End Lighthouse Park, managed by the National Trust for the Cayman Islands; the first navigational aid on the site was the first lighthouse in the Cayman Islands.

Read more on Cayman Islands Government, Wikivoyage Cayman Islands, Wikitravel Cayman Islands and Wikipedia Cayman Islands. Learn more about the use of photos. To inform you about latest news most of the city, town or tourism websites offer a newsletter service and/or operate Facebook pages/Twitter accounts. In addition more and more destinations, tourist organisations and cultural institutions offer Apps for your Smart Phone or Tablet, to provide you with a mobile tourist guide (Smart Traveler App by U.S. Department of State - Weather report by weather.com - Global Passport Power Rank - Travel Risk Map - Democracy Index - GDP according to IMF, UN, and World Bank - Global Competitiveness Report - Corruption Perceptions Index - Press Freedom Index - World Justice Project - Rule of Law Index - UN Human Development Index - Global Peace Index - Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index). If you have a suggestion, critique, review or comment to this blog entry, we are looking forward to receive your e-mail at comment@wingsch.net. Please name the headline of the blog post to which your e-mail refers to in the subject line.




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