Bermuda needs to improve its marketing and double down on promoting the autumn and winter months. But it will never see the heydays of a tourism resort that were experienced in the 1970s and 1980s.

The outgoing chief executive of the Bermuda Hotel Association, Stephen Todd, believes it is high time Bermuda addresses the imbalance in cruise ship visitors over airline visitors.

Mr Todd is retiring after 12 years and the BHA board is on the verge of appointing someone new to the position, after a lengthy review and recruitment drive.

In an exit video interview with The Royal Gazette, Mr Todd also said the island needs to review the Sunday and public holiday closures.

He said: “Either we're in the tourism economy or we're not. And recognising, yes, there are traditions that we have practised for many years. But any other destination that you're looking at, it's a 24-7 operation.”

Mr Todd said he is no way diminishing holidays like Emancipation Day and Mary Prince Day and others that are celebrated on an annual basis.

“We do need to consider what is it that we want to be seen as. Are we in fact open for business, or only in those times that it suits our personal preference?”

Hoteliers are having a solid year in the lead-up to the opening of the Fairmont Southampton. The west end property represents some 25 per cent of Bermuda hotel beds. But its opening will exacerbate a problem employers are already dealing with.

The reduction in hotels and hotel beds over decades back into the last century came with a decline of Bermudian interest in the hospitality industry.

This was highlighted earlier this year at the Hospitality Career Fair where employers were desperate to find Bermudian staff.

Mr Todd said: “It’s a challenge for us. It’s across all sectors of the industries. And when I refer to industries, I'm talking about all those who represent themselves in the hospitality industry. Not limited, obviously, to hotels.

“You obviously have restaurants, you have retail outlets, other service providers, transportation providers, and other amenities that are afforded to both visitors and locals.

“It’s no secret that we don’t have the numbers that we would like to attract from a career standpoint within the hotel industry specifically. There are plans afoot to look at how we can best correct that situation.”

Hoteliers are working with the Government and Bermuda College and will seek to incentivise young people coming through the education system to think in terms of tourism.

Mr Todd said: “We’ve got over 100 career paths that you can pursue. You can be an actuary, you can be a plumber, you can be an electrician, you can be a mason, you can be a front desk person, you can be an accountant. You name it.

“Those careers are available if there is a genuine interest in joining the industry and working your way towards those specific career paths, because they’re all equally important in the greater scheme of looking to build and grow our tourism economy.”

But the decline in local interest in hospitality is not only a Bermuda problem.

Hotel, Restaurant & Catering reported in 2022 on the ongoing staff shortages within the hospitality industry, as new research found that only one in five adults in the United Kingdom consider hospitality to be an appealing industry to work in.

The BHA CEO said that even having to recruit abroad for tourism jobs has meant competing with the source countries for hospitality workers.