One would be hard pressed to find anyone who would deny that tourism is in crisis. The industry ? one that most of us gathered here tonight grew up with ? has been not one that has been beset by a mere economic recession; but rather one that has experienced a significant structural decline, spanning roughly two decades.

While tourism has declined, Bermuda has also seen the rise of significant competition globally.

Bermuda has also witnessed the massive growth of international business, during this same period. So much so, that this economic activity now accounts for about approximately 70 percent of GDP.

What we have failed to do however is to acknowledge that the rise of international business and the decline of tourism have been inextricably linked and as suggested by that statement, not always for the positive, on a number of fronts.

International business has in addition to offering us a standard of living and affluence that we could not have dreamed of only 20 years ago, has also and this is a central paradox:

1) Contributed massively to the high cost of living on Island, thus increasing the cost of a Bermudian vacation. As a consequence, find ourselves having to market ourselves to a smaller highly segmented market, with the aim of producing a wealthier clientele who can afford a relatively expensive vacation.

2) We may find as well, that the growth of Bermuda as an offshore business centre has contributed to the price inflation associated with the cost of airfares to and off-island. In a destination that sees a high volume of business travellers, the airlines may be more than willing to get more from less and charge a premium to those travellers who just have to get here i.e. the business traveller.

3) It has led to the accelerated development of the Island in a way that has fostered an urban suburban look and feel to Bermuda that has begun in and of itself, to change the Islands ambience away from that which was closely associated with Bermuda as a premier resort tourism destination.

More to the point, the letter writer David Wiseman writing in (letters to the Editor) in 1997 had this to say on the topic at hand:

?Everyone knows that offshore financial services has displaced tourism as Bermuda?s principal source of revenue. It may not be equally plain that these two businesses are incompatible in three respects: land use, services and morale.

Bermuda is less attractive to tourists because it is overbuilt and excessively used: more lucrative services for business people (e.g. hotel properties converted to condominiums). Moral (?friendly Bermuda?) turns businesslike and cynical: the one because efficiency makes time and patience costly and because the solemnity of expatriate businessmen sets the standard for many kinds of personal exchange.

Tourism requires the space and ease that Bermuda no longer has to spare. Its future pillars are small, expensive enclaves, cruise ships, and business travellers who stay for the weekend.?

I?m often reminded that a fool keeps doing the same old thing, over and over again, in the vain hope that different results will ensue. And in many ways, this is what has confronted successive Governments and Tourism Ministers with all due apology. The nature of the decline itself has made it resistant to traditional or standard responses such as new marketing or PR initiatives that while costing us millions of dollars, give us precious little in return.

The benchmark of our collective woe in tourism, has been price and value. And in a competitive environment where this is such a critical factor, the destination in question must compensate for that by enhancing the product in a way, that can mitigate against the resistance, that we currently find to the type of destination that we do offer.

That is why as many of you know I have of late been a public advocate for the introduction of casino gambling on island.

Frankly, largely because I am sure that we no longer can afford the luxury of not endorsing it, along with other much needed initiatives, as a necessary component to the revitalisation of the tourist industry. My decision, is a pragmatic one on this issue.

But neither I, nor any other public advocate of this approach, such as the Minister, has ever claimed that it was a panacea or cure all for that which ails the tourism or visitor industry in Bermuda.

My view has been, that it will simply provide us with another value added tool ? if you will ? that will enable us to better position ourselves in a hyper competitive industry.

And on this front, I believe we must adopt a model, that sees Bermuda with preferably, one upscale Casino based upon the Monaco/European model, yet one that is placed within a Bermudian context. This model would also include buy-in from the major hotels, foreign ? and just as importantly ? Bermudian investors.

The benefits of the Casino model if feasible for Bermuda will allow for ? as stated ? another value added component to our overall product, create relatively well paying jobs, provide much needed Government revenue, jumpstart our entertainment industry and increase our overall competitiveness in a world of myriad options and choices.

It will also attract major investment into the industry overall. It is no secret for example that the industry has attracted ? of late ? far too many property developers masquerading as hotel developers, as may be the case at Tucker?s Point and the Belmont properties, among others.

Lastly, our Minister and others have stated the following question: Do we want to be in the tourist industry? Perhaps the question needs to be rephrased and should read: Do we want to be in the visitor industry? For while many nostalgically pine for an industry that may have existed 20 to 30 years ago, the realists among us have to concede that those days are over and can never be resurrected.

What we can do is embrace the concept that Bermuda is no longer in the resort tourism business but is very much in the visitor business. This model is one that represents a new paradigm, which accommodates the view that the new visitor can be just as much an international business executive or a group coming here to hold a bridge tournament. A sunburned couple from New Jersey or a multi- millionaire, looking to spend two nights in the local casino, while living onboard his luxury yacht, docked in a newly revamped Hamilton waterfront.

In summary, Bermuda is very different from the Island that existed nearly a quarter of a century ago. Our challenge will be to redesign our product, in such a way, that reflects and complements the reality of what Bermuda is today.