The Premier now speaks of the poor predictions and economic uncertainty Bermuda Tourism faces!

Whilst some may say 'better late than never', the Premier needs to take ownership for the precarious position he now recognises Bermuda tourism is in.

We in the United Bermuda Party, led by my colleague Shadow Finance Minister ET Bob Richards, have repeatedly pointed out that economic indicators were such that Bermuda's economy faced challenges. But the PLP Government has been slow to address these concerns we raised in our February Budget Reply as follows:

"The first of the dangers is the US economy, which is in trouble. The evidence is clear; the US is headed for a period of slow growth, no growth or contraction, and will drag the global economic growth rate down with it. The Bermuda economy is more dependent on outside economic and regulatory factors than any other country. If the US suffers, you can bet that we will, too"

At a time when Premier/Tourism Minister should have been "Fishing where the fish are" as we have repeatedly stated – that is in the communities neighbouring our gateway cities where our name is known and to persons with the disposable income and an appreciation for our Golf & Spa amenities dwell – and with promotions and incentives that encourage those discerning visitors to choose Bermuda over our competitors. In a March17, 2008 press release I said as follows:

"For the past two years, the Government has projected the image of a tourism industry in 'recovery', but we question the validity of the claim because the so-called recovery has been driven by unprecedented reliance on cruise ship visitors and visitors who come to Bermuda for business reasons or to visit with family members residing on the island.

One of the problems behind Bermuda's continuing tourism troubles is that the Government appears to have taken its eye off the traditional markets in the US northeast and Canada that provided the lion's share of Bermuda's visitors for more than 40 years.

The closure of tourism offices in Toronto and Boston represent the declining commitment to these core markets. As I said during the Budget debate on Tourism, it is vitally important that we fish where the fish are. Bermuda Tourism for too many years has been trying to develop new unproven markets. This was typified last autumn when Premier Brown announced his intention to open a tourism office in Beijing because China, as the Premier said, represented the future."

Instead, of targeting the unsold inventory, we have continued to endure a micromanaging Premier making decision to spend millions on the Music Festival and the New York Mets when all indicators pointed to a poor year in Tourism.

Incidentally, a number of our Caribbean competitors are showing increased business and fairing better in Tourism than we are!

For the record, our peak season for hotel-bound visitors is now only four months from May through Labour Day. Unfortunately, this year that peak season is under siege. Moreover our off season (which the Premier refers to as golf season) now runs from September through April, with occupancy averaging below 60 [percent for eight months consecutively.

Recent decisions to outsource the North American office staff – at a time when their experience could have been deployed in the field effectively and the decision to close the St. George's Golf Course and leave only one one hole public course open to service visitors both demonstrate Government's short-sighted approach to recognising the immediate challenge those industry stakeholders still here and committed continue to face. Both decisions demonstrate a loss of resources that can still assist us immediately and immensely attract greater numbers of visitors during this uncertain economic period.

In closing, I reiterate our commitment to work with Government and participate in their upcoming Summit as stated in a July 11 interview:

"UBP leader and Shadow Tourism Minister, Kim Swan said he was pleased 'Government has taken aboard our recommendations from earlier this week (See "Save the Tourism Season Now!" at ubp.bm) and use this opportunity to say that we would be pleased to participate in the summit if asked'".

Kim E. Swan JP MP is Leader of the Opposition and Shadow Tourism Minister.