The loss of the Riddell’s Bay Golf and Country Club has dealt an “understandable” blow to confidence, Bermuda Tourism Authority spokesman Glenn Jones said last night.

Saying he would miss golfing and entertaining guests at the 94-year-old club in Warwick, Mr Jones nevertheless contended that the island remained strong as a golf destination.

“My thoughts are with the fine people who worked at the course as they deal with this sudden closure,” he added.

The club’s liquidation was announced on Thursday, ending several years of financial hardship at Riddell’s Bay and prompting Opposition criticism of the Authority’s performance.

The club’s loss “further diminishes our tourist and local golf product”, according to Jamahl Simmons, the Shadow Minister of Tourism.

However, Mr Jones maintained that despite this week’s bad news, “trends we see in golf tourism are positive”.

“Even with this unfortunate development, Bermuda has plenty of high-quality golf product and can compete with any destination in the region for golf visitors.”

He said that marketing drives for events such as the Grey Goose World Par 3, Gosling’s Invitational and Goodwill tournaments had stimulated growth. Mr Jones pointed to growth in the annual Women & Golf, as well as the second Bermuda Golf Classic coming later this month, and said college golfers were “increasingly” using the island for practice during spring break.

The international management firm Troon Golf works successfully with Port Royal and Ocean View, Mr Jones said.

“Even professional tournaments like the Nike Golf PGA Team Championship of Canada has moved to Bermuda in the past year, and we have high confidence it will return in 2016.”

Meanwhile, Mr Simmons urged the Bermuda Government to help Riddell’s Bay staff to get new jobs, adding that visitors with bookings at the club would need to be informed swiftly and given alternate arrangements.

He called for the Department of Workforce Development to reach out to Bermudian workers “immediately”.

The closure of the island’s oldest golf club — described on the official Bermuda tourism web site as “the elder statesman of Bermuda country clubs” — stood as “yet another example of a longstanding Bermudian institution falling victim to our economic climate”.

Mr Simmons said that tourism policy under the One Bermuda Alliance had yielded “a 49-year low” in tourism air arrivals.

He said the Progressive Labour Party would demand “greater accountability” from the BTA, which was launched in December 2013 — billed as an independent and apolitical entity when it replaced the old Department of Tourism.

Charging the OBA administration with a failure to deliver, Mr Simmons said the PLP would expand the budget for tourism marketing to a competitive level, and “prioritise tourism investment to grow the industry and to in turn create jobs for Bermudians”.