Bermuda is attracting tourists at a level not seen since before the September 11 terrorism attacks of 2001. And suggestions that it has come at a high price, mainly through handing out big bucks to airlines in order to attract their business, is way off the mark.

So stated Premier Ewart Brown as he met head-on critics who doubt the worth of increased airlift to the Island and promotions to attract new visitors by claiming they have been driven by hidden payments and incentives.

Focusing on the crucial factor of reviving air arrival visitors to rejuvenate the Island’s hotel and hospitality sectors, Dr. Brown said: “Perhaps the most unfortunate aspect of the recent rumour mill surrounding tourism policy has been blog-fed, opposition-embraced fiction that the increase of air service to Bermuda has come through some extortionate, secret deal involving untold cash. I regret to advise the conspiracy theorists that nothing could be further from the truth.”

He invited Bermuda International Airport General Manager Jim Howes to explain the facts about incentives such as short-term waivers of airport landing fees, advertising support and revenue guarantee agreements as airlines expand into new routes.

Last winter’s TNT charter flights and the Munich charter service during the summer were examples of limited introductory incentives used to demonstrate the potential for new services.

“Our airline partners require that precise contract terms remain confidential. But let’s be clear, no revenue guarantee at all was offered to JetBlue.

“We did provide a landing fee waiver for a short period of time, now concluded, along with a commitment that Bermuda Tourism would have an advertising presence in the New York market,” he said, adding that JetBlue, which started twice-daily flights from New York at the start of summer, had not received any minimum revenue guarantees.

He stated that since 2003 the total revenue guarantees paid out by Bermuda International Airport to airlines averaged less than $400,000 per year.

The expansion of British Airways’ service to a daily route from London to Bermuda during the summer months was agreed through a deal on co-operative advertising support within the UK, said Mr. Howes. He said that money was well within the amount budgeted for promoting Bermuda tourism in the UK. Persuading a sceptical American Airlines to launch a direct service to Miami had proven a success and not cost Bermuda a single cent, according to Mr. Howes.

He said Delta and US Airways had increased services from Atlanta and Philadelphia without any revenue guarantees and the same was true for “the majority of our increased air service.”

Total airline passenger traffic at the airport during October was at its highest for the month since 2000 and eight percent higher than last year, reported Mr. Howes. Premier Brown said up-ticks in tourism are now across the board with more visitors by air and cruise, higher visitor spending, higher visitor satisfaction and higher hotel occupancy. “Even in September and despite the impact of Hurricane Florence, Bermuda achieved the largest recorded number of total visitors since 1980 during a third quarter with 261,326 visitors — 33.3 percent increase over the same period in 2005,” said the Premier, who also holds the tourism portfolio.

Explaining aims for the coming years Dr. Brown said air and cruise arrivals would be balanced as the Island’s “bed stock” for guests was built up to 10,000 from the current 7,293.

He warned that figure would fluctuate until at least 2010 as some hotels close for renovations and rebuilds and new developments such as projects at the former Club Med resort and a proposed business hotel at Par-la-Ville Road become realities.

Dr. Brown said representatives of a number of luxury hotel brands have visited the Island this year with a view to development projects, including Jumeirah who are behind Dubai’s Burj Al Arab, claimed as “the world’s only seven star hotel” and visited by the Premier earlier this year.

He also announced Bermuda has secured the right to host the Airport Council International world assembly in 2010, an event that attracted around 1,000 delegates and spouses and is being held in Buenos Aires, Boston and Kuala Lumpur in the coming three years.

According to the latest tourism statistics air arrivals from January to the end of October are up 9.9 percent year-on-year with 262,371 arrivals, cruise arrivals have hit 326,692 so far this year representing 55 percent of all visitor numbers, and visitor spending for the first ten months of the year is estimated to be in the range $102.6 million to $130.7m.

Dr. Brown said: “This year’s story is almost all told and it is a story of success. I believe in leading by example and as such I intend to bring the full weight of the office of Premier to the continued development of our tourism.”