Dear Sir,

Wow, we secured the America’s Cup for 2017. Well done Bermuda, great venue the Great Sound, “a bit tight,” according to one skipper.

The teams will rent a few homes, buy some groceries, hire a few chefs for their special diets.

But when the main event happens in October 2017, where are we going to house the overseas spectators coming to Bermuda? In tents, caves?

San Diego hosted 1.5 million visitors to the event in 2013. Even if Bermuda gets 750,000 visitors for the event, we only have 2,500 beds between the Princess, Elbow, Reefs, Cambridge, Pompano, (Pink Beach and Ariel Sands, if ready).

Where are you going to house all these spectators, in local residences?

A mega cruise ship like the biggest one being launched in 2016 by RCL can only accommodate 5,000 passengers. Even if Bermuda leases ten of these for the event that is only 50,000 people. Where are we going to put the other 500,000 spectators? Talk about putting the cart before the horse, it takes more than three years to build a major hotel with 300-plus rooms, even with modern technology. Not well thought out.

I want to see how the America’s Cup organising committee, the Bermuda Tourism authority and the other powers that be handle this matter.

I see demand for tourism accommodations far exceeding supply for this event in October, 2017. What a disaster waiting to happen.

I hope I am proven wrong for Bermuda’s sake, especially with millions watching on TV.

This is what happens when you neglect the tourism industry for 30 years and put too much emphasis on International Business.

I don’t see International Businesses absorbing the 4,000 Bermudians out of work or picking up the tab for $50 million in financial assistance.

Sir John Swan, are you taking note, the advocate for International Business over tourism.

OBSERVER, Sandys