BBC highlights Island's Tourism woes
By Nadia Arandjelovic
Bermuda's failing tourism industry has been featured in a BBC television series which is airing this week.
The show Fast Track, hosted by Thalia Pellegrini, compared tourism today to when Bermuda was a top destination several decades ago.
Premier Ewart Brown was interviewed in the segment that also focused on hot issues from around the world.
"Bermuda got a little complacent and we didn't do much to refurbish and refresh our product," said Dr. Brown as he explained declines of 14 to 25 percent a year, in the Island's arrival figures.
"We found ourselves in the 90s struggling against heavy competition, so we are doing quite a few things in tourism now, trying to build five star properties [and] encourage the world to come and see Bermuda. Bermuda has been a secret for too long."
BBC reporter Tayfun King claimed that Government had helped Bermuda remain a secret, slashing its marketing budget to approximately one-quarter of other island destinations such as Jamaica and Puerto Rico.
Said Dr. Brown: "There is no question we spend pennies compared to others on marketing and advertising, that will be corrected as we develop the product. We didn't want to create new interests in Bermuda and have people come and find the same old situation."
The report described Bermuda as a top destination in the 50s, 60s and 70s, when American tourists made up 80 percent of its visitors due to the Island's close proximity to New York.
"Today that luck has seemed to run out it appears, as the sun sets on much of Bermuda's tourism industry," Mr. King said, saying the sector started to fade when international business began to lure young Bermudians away from hospitality.
The special, which aired for the first time over the weekend, will be repeated a few more times this week.
