The red carpet was rolled out in style for Bermuda's hospitality industry workers over the weekend at "Bermuda's Oscars", the Visitor Industry Partnership (VIP) Excellence Awards.

Nineteen winners and 54 nominees were celebrated at the black-tie event at the Fairmont Southampton Princess on Saturday night, which more than 800 family, friends and co-workers attended in a show of camaraderie and team spirit that was inspiring to see.

The humility of the nominees, their gratitude towards what they considered the honour of being applauded and appreciated for a job well done, and the obvious pride which they all took in their work was highlighted by video clips filming their reactions when they told they had been nominated.

Their devotion to the education of Bermuda's young people was also highlighted in the video clips, with many offering advice and calling on youngsters to see what the industry has to offer.

"You could travel to all the four corners of the earth and not find the pop and sizzle there is here," a beaming Tourism Minister Ewart Brown told the cheering crowd.

The event was so inspiring that many guests who were not involved in the visitor industry were left wondering why exactly they had chosen the career paths they did. Even Labour, Home Affairs and Public Safety Minister Randy Horton joked about going into the hospitality industry by the end of the evening, while Shadow Race Relations and Economic Opportunities Minister David Dodwell ? also the owner of the Reefs hotel ? was overjoyed at the strong showing put in by Reefs employees.

The only drawback of the night? In an unfortunate twist, several guests' admiration of the outstanding people skills of the nominees was only heightened by the attitude of other guests towards the wait staff at the Fairmont Southampton.

Those guests, who were not directly part of the tourism industry, raised eyebrows with their manners, and succeeded brilliantly in highlighting the amazing patience, humour, and dexterity which employees such as the nominees must possess to manouevre through the service world.