Shadow Tourism Minister Michael Dunkley yesterday launched an attack on the Department of Tourism's "smoke and mirrors" over the Sales Focus affair and asked: "Just what the heck is going on?"

Tourism has scrapped its controversial link-up with the American firm nine months after installing it in the North American Tourism Office in place of long-serving Bermudians.

According to one source, the Sales Focus employees were let go yesterday — six months before its contract runs out — leaving just two sales people in a New York office which a year ago had more than ten. Tourism neither confirmed nor denied that report.

Tourism's explanation for severing ties with Sales Focus, announced on Sunday, was: "Buying habits of our customers have changed over the last six months and we are aligning our organisation to the market."

Sen. Dunkley responded in a statement yesterday: "This is a pathetic and bogus rationale, and Bermudians have every right to know just what the heck is going on.

"To imply that the economic downturn is the reason for dropping Sales Focus suggests that Tourism made a massive mistake in going with a firm that did not have the savvy and skills to sell Bermuda in a challenging market. We look forward to hearing Sales Focus's response to what can only be regarded as a gross public insult to its capabilities.

"But this is all smoke and mirrors in my view."

Premier and Tourism Minister Ewart Brown's outsourcing manoeuvre prompted an outcry last July when it emerged the Ministry of Tourism and Transport had broken its contractual agreement with Bermuda Public Services Union.

BPSU argued Dr. Brown's decision to keep the plan up his sleeve for several months meant it was unable to suggest alternatives to redundancies for up to 12 people, and ultimately families were left with hardly any time to find new homes, jobs and schools for their children in Bermuda.

Sen. Dunkley continued yesterday: "The announcement that the Tourism Department's contract with the US firm, Sales Focus, will not be renewed is the latest indication the Government has no clue what it is doing when it comes to the serious business of selling Bermuda as a tourism destination.

"The Minister last summer shut down Bermuda's New York tourism office — throwing Bermudians out of work in the process — because the 'sales model for Bermuda Tourism was outdated'. The Minister outsourced the work to Sales Focus.

"The Premier's destruction of the New York sales office was avoidable. Any improvement in its performance, whether through the adoption of a new sales model or the replacement of underperforming staff, was a straightforward management challenge. That the Minister chucked the whole operation for Sales Focus was a cop out of the first order — a failure of leadership.

"Our concern as the Opposition is that Bermuda Tourism is adrift without a strategy to get 'heads into beds'. We have no confidence that there is any real plan in place to drive up business, to raise Bermuda's profile in key markets; no specific visitor targets to aim for. We challenge the Premier to tell Bermudians just what is the plan."

Sen. Dunkley renewed the United Bermuda Party's call for a Tourism Authority to provide professional rather than political direction for the industry.

"The Authority's primary goal will be to make Bermuda competitive again as a tourism destination, and its business-based mission will make it accountable to that goal," he said.

"Accountability for Bermuda Tourism's performance has been missing for too long." One former staff member, who was made redundant last summer, said former colleagues had explained that four Sales Focus people were let go two weeks ago and another six or so yesterday. The ex-worker said staff did not believe the reason being given for Sales Focus' departure, adding: "It was the Premier's decision to hire Sales Focus and he doesn't want to take responsibility for it."

The Department of Tourism has not responded when asked how much the contract was worth, how it rated Sales Focus' performance, and whether Sales Focus employees had been let go already.