Bermuda needs to do much better selling itself as a top-notch tourist destination to Americans to reverse the continued drop in air arrivals, according to Chamber of Commerce president Philip Barnett. And Mr. Barnett says that whatever has been happening to attract arrivals from the US North Eastern corridor — the most important market to the Island — cannot have been working.

He was speaking after the Department of Tourism announced it was severing ties with Sales Focus, nine months after appointing the American firm in place of long-serving Bermudians in the North American Tourism Office.

Mr. Barnett told The Royal Gazette the Chamber did not have enough information to comment specifically about the New York office situation, which has prompted anger from former staff and the Opposition the United Bermuda Party.

But he added in an e-mail: "I think I can speak for the entire membership when I state that the US North Eastern corridor, specifically the Boston to New York stretch, has always been the most important market for us in Bermuda.

"We also believe that significant improvement can be made to the top of mind awareness of potential vacationers in positioning Bermuda as a safe, elegant and charming, sophisticated, historically and culturally vibrant, discerning, sub tropical island that is only a two-hour flight away.

"Add the luxury of US Customs and Immigration pre-clearance in Bermuda when returning to the US, and you get a core message of competitive advantage that needs to be much better communicated." Asked whether efforts through the New York office needed to be stepped up, Mr. Barnett replied: "Truthfully, I do not know what the New York office does/is supposed to do, so cannot judge their efforts.

"However, by the continued drop in air arrivals we have seen over the past few years, one can only surmise that what we are doing currently just isn't working. I am certainly not a marketing savvy person. However the seeming total drop in brand awareness in our core marketplace has to be one of the first things we should be concentrating on if we hope to reverse the downward trend of tourist visitors."

"Many, many Bermudians still pay the mortgage, and taxes, by their work in the hospitality business — think bartenders, room attendants, taxi drivers, beach attendants, water sports operators, scooter rental agencies ... the list goes on."

Sales Focus was appointed amid a storm of controversy last summer, with ten to 12 Bermudians made redundant and replaced by Americans said to have little knowledge of the Island. The Department of Tourism's explanation for not renewing Sales Focus' contract this Sunday was: "Buying habits of our customers have changed over the last six months and we are aligning our organisation to the market."

This explanation was dismissed as a "pathetic and bogus rationale" by Shadow Tourism Minister Michael Dunkley, who said it should be regarded as a gross public insult to the capabilities of Sales Focus.

On Sunday, the Department of Tourism said Sales Focus' contract would not be renewed when it runs out in six months time.

The Department of Tourism yesterday said the one-year Sales Focus contract was valued at $609,000 annually plus commissions. It said commissions, based on delivery of incremental business, meant the all inclusive agreement was capped at $1.1 million annually.

A late-evening press release said there are currently 15 staff in the North American Office, 13 of whom are Bermudian and all of whom are involved in the sales effort in some way. Before that statement yesterday, The Royal Gazette sent a reporter to the tourism office to try to find out more information.

When a reporter asked to speak to a Sales Focus agent, the office receptionist replied: "No one from that company works with us any more. They have nothing to do with us and so there's nobody from that firm here."

The receptionist was also unable to say how many sales representatives were now working in the office. "This has only just happened — it's all been very quick — so I can't really say how many sales staff we have right now," he said.

The Royal Gazette eventually met with office manager Gina Luna, who refused to answer any questions. Ms Luna said that Director of Operations Ann Shutte — who was not at the office yesterday — was the only member of the team who could answer media questions.

One former staff member, still in touch with people still working in the office, said: "The US sales office effectively no longer exists. Staffing levels are non-existent and what staff that are there are just going through the motions without any passion or love. Despite what Ann Shutte might be saying, there's nothing going on now. Of course, Sales Focus won't mind — they'll be getting paid for the next few months but there won't be any activity in the next six months.

"In fact, purely from a business perspective, it's been a very successful contract for Sales Focus — they came in, made a quick buck, and quickly got out again. I'm sure they won't want to talk to the media about it.

"But what everyone finds so frustrating is that everyone knew that Sales Focus was going to fail. There was never any harmony between the Sales Focus staff and the Bermudians — there was never a merging of the two parties. It was generally felt that the Sales Focus staff just didn't have the experience to sell Bermuda the way Bermudians can. So the question will always be — why were they taken on in the first place? This decision came from the very top and the feeling is that there's no way Government would have hired Sales Focus, unless someone at the very top was going to benefit."

Another former employee said: "For a start the contract is misleading. The contract with Sales Focus was for $1 million but that doesn't include any extra expenses that the Ministry was paying out — and there were a lot of expenses.

"In actual fact nobody knows what the contract is worth because they've never shown it. I just hope the taxpayer is aware of all of this.

"Basically the fact that Sales Focus has been fired is an admittance that there was a gross error of judgement. We had a group of dedicated Bermudians who could talk about the Bermudian people, talk about the Island and talk about its culture. They were replaced by people who had no experience of selling that — people who had no concept of Bermuda or the tourism market. It really doesn't make any sense, which is what we have all been saying all along.

"What Ann Shutte said this week — about downturns and realigning the organisation — that's complete doublespeak.

"Ann Shutte can say all she likes about there being a downturn in the world market or whatever but the fact is this was a complete blunder — and the fact that Sales Force has now gone is testament to that. There's no one in the sales office who can develop that personal relationship, which is what you need if you're going to make the sale. Sales Focus was hired before the Bermudian staff were let go. What has happened now is that the Sales Force team has been freed immediately. Ann is still there but the sales team looking after group business no longer exists.

"There's a great deal of confusion — no one knows what the business plan is. There used to be certain goals and accountability, with quarterly evaluations of each member. Now we have a situation in which no one knows what the structure is and there's no presence out there."