June 2, 2011.Dear Sir,I write once more on a subject dear to my heart, Tourists. At one time, the backbone of Tourism was our beloved Bermuda. But it would appear that's not the case anymore. For the past 30 years plus we have slowly driven them to other shores to our south and beyond. Through such things as high costs, lack of the old Bermudian service with a smile which all Bermudians were all known for. Tourist would return for just that. Our people. Now, that's something to be proud of. Not so today, the hotel industry and service in general, is almost non-existent. We would rather take from them, in such ways as robbing tourists accommodations, ransacking the rooms, going to our beaches to steal tourist personal belongings even as far stealing from rented scooters. Handbag snatching on our city streets. Not good. You can't even go to a nightclub without having a disruption of some sort etc.At the moment, I'm willing to bet Bermuda is the worst of the lot given the size of our island, amount of residents, foreign and local that reside here. It's unbelievable. The crime escalation of crime in Bermuda is so fast it's hard to imagine the long term effects it will have on Bermuda in the future. Most of all, people's lives change forever. Family is the most important piece of everyone's's life. It's what keeps and binds us together.Our tourists come to Bermuda to escape these sort of things, which they can expect in any big metropolis, from around the world. But not in Bermuda. We all need to return to our grass roots. I'm sure we can all create and do some of the similar things we did back then for our visitors. Maybe, by using a more modern flair, that meets today's standards.What gave me the inspiration to write this letter to the editor, was this past 24th of May celebrations. I was so dismayed with some of our residents complaining about having visitors taking part in our Bermuda Day Marathon. I would have thought they would have embraced the opportunity to have visitors join in with them sharing our holiday spirit. It's the one holiday that you can truly see and feel, mostly at being proud to where we hail from ... Bermuda. Each of us should make our tourists feel like we appreciate their presence on our shores, things of this nature surely inspire a return visit, Bermuda sure could use that extra boost. For all those who work in our tourist-related businesses.If the local people are that much disheartened with letting visitors compete in this venue, and feel tourist may be stealing someone's thunder, then I have a suggestion. I suggest to Government that they present a special trophy or cup to the winning visitor or visitors. Male and female. A gesture of this nature can't be measured, Bermuda was famous for this sort of publicity in past years. We need desperately to reintroduce this sort of thing. Hey, at least give it a try.Not only Government, the Airlines that service Bermuda, all hotels, guest houses, cottage colonies, etc and private homes. If all people concerned, contribute then we all prosper with the end result.The airlines that service Bermuda, could play a major part of the gesture by giving the return tickets to the winners for them to return the following 24th of May to defend their title.Again, this gesture becomes a win-win situation for each airline as well, with all the media exposure given local and abroad. Airlines could use this extra boost as well. Local hotels, cottage colonies and all guest houses could each benefit at providing the accommodations, or at least a reduced rate for all winners. All of this creates such goodwill, end result, is return visits to our shores. They tell many of their friends of the kindness received in Bermuda, about our way of life, most of all our people. When they come the following year they will bring extra people for sure to watch or even compete. Bermuda Day could only grow to greater heights.Bermuda, we need to expand on this, and any other venture similar to this one. This sort of thing brings many valuable dollars to Bermuda which over time will improve our economy, which equates to a more stable and better work environment. Bottom line happy people. A more tranquil island. We could try introducing something along these lines, for spring break with US Colleges on a much smaller scale, than the college weeks of the 1960s and 1970s. College weeks was a moneymaker all around. The same students returning each year for at least four years, in that time some would meet and marry their future husband or wife through their Bermuda Easter break vacation. Some of these students might even choose Bermuda for a honeymoon. In later life, they could return with their children. Then, in due time, that same cycle starts again.Most important: All of us that live and work in Bermuda have to nurture this process with much TLC. Making sure our visitors will always think Bermuda when deciding their destination for their next fun and relaxed vacation.GORDY GIBBONSPaget