The concept of sustainability suggests a process that does not itself interfere with its own longevity. Applying the term to tourism in Bermuda raises the question of whether the growth being sought in tourism product (hotels, houses for sale or rent to tourists, and other related development) and services (requiring more imported labour) is making Bermuda less attractive to tourists. If true, then our current tourism model is un-sustainable.There’s not much question that tourism is at a low ebb. Visitors have been declining with a few blips here and there, hotel beds are low in number and still not well filled, promises of hotel construction are a long way from fruition. The reasons vary, depending on who one talks to, but at its core Bermuda has lost much of its appeal.Reasons apparent to me would include:l Our economic model depends on an ever-widening consumer base and can be summed up in one word, growth.l Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell. This model has consumption as its sole reason for being, its sole methodology, its sole outcome.l Consumption of resources is sidelined by mainstream economists who hang their trust on technology finding new resources to replace the ones we’ve consumed, and new ways of extracting the economic value out of those resources.One key advantage of living in Bermuda is that we are face-to-face with resource limits we have direct experience such as:Land. There’s only 13,000 acres to go around. A look at aerial photos over time shows pretty starkly the pattern of what happens when a growing demand meets and finite resource. As Bermuda’s population continues to grow (births minus deaths plus net in-migration) the demand for land increases, so each portion of land becomes more valuable, more costly.At the same time, each plot of land gets carved into progressively smaller pieces and is more densely covered with people and their things. In a word, Bermuda is becoming progressively more urbanised.Urban life. It is tolerable provided there is sufficient sub-urban and rural space to provide relief. In Bermuda, every additional lot that is built upon results in a noticeable reduction in land for every other use uses that are equally important if not more important than building construction. These include food production, transportation (roads and parking spaces), amenity space (vistas), recreation, industrial (electricity production, waste handling).Workforce. Our pool of labour doesn’t provide enough people to do all the jobs of an expanding economy. We generate more businesses restaurants, construction and landscaping firms, office-cleaning services but cannot find enough local labour to fill the staffing slots (despite the number of Bermudians working at more than one job). This may be absolutely normal: the distribution of skills and proficiency in our population is not much different than elsewhere it has just been outstripped by the increasingly excessive demand for bodies in all ranks of jobs.It helps to remember that in 2006, 75 percent of the new jobs created went to imported foreigners; another 15 percent went to foreigners already living here; non-Bermudian spouses of Bermudians took another four percent.Only six percent of the jobs created were filled by Bermudians.If this is a glimpse into our future that for every 100 jobs created, only six Bermudians actually get a job or, looked at another way, that in order to give six Bermudians a job, we have to import 75 foreign workers we are in serious trouble. The demands of 75 foreign workers for housing, transportation, food, recreation, entertainment and health and social services is an extortionate price to pay for putting six Bermudians to work. This is not a sustainable economic model, nor cultural model.Bermuda’s traditional cordiality cannot be carried forth by six workers in 100.In the recent past we have 1) wasted $60 milion in overspending for cruise ship berths, 2) expanded commercial activity on our most famous beach, and 3) proposed introducing commerce to our most pristine beach, overturned protective zonings on diminishing open space resources to allow a hotel to create building lots for sale, all in the declared interest of Tourism.But the obstacles to Tourism go far beyond these puny efforts.If tourism is to succeed in Bermuda, we will need to:l Restore the image of Bermudians as a well-dressed and well-mannered people.l Restore the image of Bermuda as a safe place to visit and travel about at any time of day or night.l Lower the speed and congestion on our roads so tourists can feel and be safe when walking or riding bikes;l Get serious about reducing noise levels, particularly from motorbikesl Tone down the provocative, anti-white rhetoric, particularly from government leaders and high-profile consultants, remembering that most of our visitors are white who will choose not to visit if they are faced with racial hostility;l Explore alternatives to the current growth-at-any-cost economic model that consumes literally eats up our main and irreplaceable assets: the beauty of our Island and the cordiality of our people.For tourism to truly be sustainable we will have to preserve our assets, the beauty and health of our environment and the beauty and health (physical, mental and spiritual) of our people.A good first step would be for our Department of Tourism to springboard off of the Sustainable Development Conference taking place in Bermuda this week and host a local dialogue on each of the six topics above.