There was a fair bit of discussion a couple of months ago, largely emanating from the Bermuda Tourism Authority and its CEO, Bill Hanbury, about the need for Bermuda to differentiate itself from the Caribbean in terms of how it brands itself from a marketing perspective.

Certainly, there is some merit in doing so. After all, for the most part Bermuda is a fairly unique product, which, because of its relative geographic isolation as a mid-Atlantic island, has a climate that for about six months or so is unlike that found in the Caribbean.

On the other hand, between May and September, one would find it difficult to not acknowledge that during those months Bermuda is just as Caribbean in terms of its climate, as any island to the south of us.

Notwithstanding that, with approximately 60 per cent of its population of African descent holding strong ties to the Caribbean, it is equally hard to deny that Bermuda has a very strong Caribbean cultural influence as well.

But what is important is the perception of the customer and on that front — based on a lifetime of experience — success, in terms of this aspect of the BTA’s overall campaign, is not assured.

As a baby boomer, I came of age during the golden era of tourism in Bermuda. That era from 1955 to about 1985 fuelled Bermuda’s economic growth during that period and positioned us as a market leader at the forefront of resort-style tourism globally.

Bermuda then, besides being unhurried and a place with some of the best beaches in the world, was also a tourist destination that for millions was also known for its cachet. Bermuda in other words was hip, it was fun, it was cool — and attracted a rather affluent discerning clientele, largely derived from the East Coast of the United States.

The burnishing of this unique cachet was driven by the welcoming and engaging culture of Bermudians themselves who manned the industry, particularly at those levels that required one-on-one contact with the visiting guests.

In effect, for those of my generation and older, tourism and hospitality was part of our DNA.

Yet, during that whole time when Bermuda routinely drew 400,000 to 550,000 airborne visitors yearly — largely from the US — if one would have done a survey in our largest markets then and asked the question as to where Bermuda was located, I would hazard a guess that most Americans at least would have said in the Caribbean.

My point is that at a time when we were breaking visitor arrival records year-over-year, many people in those markets were just as confused about where Bermuda was as they seemingly are now.

In this regard, we may be barking up the wrong tree. Perhaps a bigger problem may lie in that over the past two decades, Bermuda has become known internationally, at least in our traditional markets, for being more of a staid, boring, affluent offshore international business domicile at best and for others an offshore tax haven at worst. As opposed to the Bermuda that at least until the 1980s, was a top-drawer resort tourism destination catering to the high-end visitor.

In other words, have we become more of a place where the affluent come to do business but not necessarily a place where they want to stay and have fun?

But maybe what we really need to see happening is for the BTA to stop talking out of both sides of their mouths when it comes to marketing Bermuda. For while Mr Hanbury pours cold water over the Caribbean link and says that Bermuda is more like the Hamptons, which is a very wealthy enclave on Long Island, the BTA, as reported, is one of the major sponsors behind what is now called “Bermuda Heroes Weekend”.

And what will “Bermuda Heroes Weekend” consist of? Well, as the daily reported the event which will feature a number of soca acts will essentially be a Caribbean carnival-style parade.

It will also focus on marketing the event to draw fans of carnival from the US and the Caribbean.

Increasingly seems as if Bermuda is not like the Caribbean except when the BTA wants it to be.

I’m scratching my head and I suspect you are, too.

The clock is ticking.

Over the next three years as Cuba comes online, and as major investment pours in there from the US, the competitive environment facing Bermuda will likely intensify. Cuba is hip and cool, with a rich culture and a pristine environment still in many respects untouched by overdevelopment. It is also the type of place that the rich and hip, which Bermuda used to attract in droves, will be dying to visit.