First impressions matter and there is no denying that the existing facilities at LF Wade International Airport set the wrong first impression. We welcome visitors, including a rising number of first-time visitors, through a gateway that does not reflect our status as a First World country and destination.

Bermudians are a rightfully proud people and our airport sends a message to our visitors, potential investors, and our friends and families that is incompatible with who we are and how we see ourselves. They, and we, deserve better.

At the Bermuda Tourism Authority, we have a bold vision for the future of Bermuda that we believe all Bermudians can and should rally around.

We see the continuous growth in visitor arrivals during 2016 as the start of something big — as our chairman, David Dodwell, wrote recently, “the buzz is back” — but sustaining our momentum requires continuous investment. Sustained growth in tourism will create new jobs in hotels, retail and hospitality-related services.

Those jobs and the money spent locally by more visitors will generate additional income for Bermudian families, dues for our unions and revenue for the Bermuda Government, which can reduce our debt and be redirected to the services that our community sorely needs — a better education system for our children, better care for our seniors.

There is no other component of the island’s economy that can effect this kind of change on a near-term basis. If so much of the economic future of our country is dependent on tourism, it only makes good business sense, and good common sense, to invest in one of the most important tourism assets we possess: our airport.

The investment we need to make is not just in physical buildings. An often overlooked point in the present debate over redevelopment of the airport is that our partners need to be more than airport builders. Bermuda requires a partner with deep relationships with airlines and a track record of successful route development to work alongside our existing team. Such a partner will be invaluable to Bermuda as we seek to grow our airlift supply to keep pace with rising demand.

Connections to new cities, and more competition on existing routes, will deliver convenience and cost benefits for visitors and residents alike.

There is an urgency to act now. The present proposal includes a plan to “fix” our existing facilities in time for the 2017 season and the America’s Cup, while a new terminal is built. But more importantly, we should act now because Bermuda’s economy is entirely reliant on a functioning airport.

Imagine the impact on tourism, and the economy more widely, if the airport was unexpectedly inoperable. The weak state of the existing buildings and its defenceless state in a statistically probable storm are unacceptable risks to our future, and those risks are amplified the longer we delay.

The economic recovery that tourism is driving is under way and, while the benefits have not yet been felt across our community, the path for them is the clearest we have seen in decades. Risking our progress at this critical point in our history and jeopardising our own prosperity would be irresponsible.

Let’s give ourselves what we deserve.

• Kevin Dallas is the chief executive officer of the Bermuda Tourism Authority