Bermudians -- especially those in the tourism industry -- have to stop blaming outside forces and start taking responsibility for their own actions if they expect the Island to prosper as a major holiday destination, the resident manager of one of Bermuda's largest hotels said.

"We have an erosion of values,'' Mr. Tim Terceira of Marriott's Castle Harbour told a recent meeting of the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association's Bermuda chapter.

"Not enough people accept that there is only one person responsible for their success or failure (and) that is themselves.'' Among the issues that Mr. Terceira said Bermudians must come to grips with were the recent spate of crimes against visitors, the high "sick call'' rate among hospitality workers and the failure of the Bermuda Industrial Union and the Hotel Employers of Bermuda to hammer out a collective bargaining agreement.

Both parties in the latter controversy have been trying without success to reach a bargaining agreement that covers 1991 to 1994. Those negotiations were this year put off until 1995.

"The drawn-out collective bargaining agreement process is a tremendous waste of resources,'' Mr. Terceira told the group, which met at the Stonington Beach Hotel.

"We should be spending that time focusing on service improvements, marketing.

Meanwhile, there is still no signed agreement.'' Added Mr. Terceira: "We still spend too much time managing the discipline process. There are too many unreasonable grievances when facts clearly show discipline is required. This results in employees being encouraged to not trust business leadership and not accept their (own) responsibility.'' On the issue of crime, Mr. Terceira told his listeners: "Recent crimes in our Island, if they continue, are potentially devastating to our existence as a tourist destination. A safe and comfortable environment is essential to our success as a small Island economy.'' Mr. Terceira backed up his point by relating that many guests had told him they would "never go further south again'' for their holidays because they were uncomfortable vacationing amid poverty, insecurity and destitution.

As a hotel manager, Mr. Terceira saved his harshest criticisms for the hospitality industry itself, saying: "Our standard of living is one of the highest in the world, yet our frequency of `sick call offs' is higher than our industry norm in North America.'' Stressing his point about personal responsibility, he added: "We need to believe that a passion for hospitality is not servitude, but rather it is the business of helping people. Making our customers say `Good morning' or `Good afternoon' first before we will help cannot be tolerated.'' Despite his tongue-lashing of various Bermudian "shortfalls,'' Mr. Terecira singled out a number of local factors that gave the Island an edge over competitors, including its location, physical and manmade beauty, relative lack of poverty and naturally friendly people.

He also cited Bermuda's medical facilities, "variety of hotels to attract different markets'' and "Government infrastructure that supports our growth and development'' as particularly praiseworthy achievements.

"I strongly believe there is an excellent base from which we can realise the capacity for further growth and development,'' he said.

Nonetheless, Mr. Terceira told the gathering that Bermudians could no longer afford to rest on their laurels.

Quoting motivational author Mr. Steve Covey, he warned: "Ineffective people allow old habits, other people and environmental conditions to dictate...They adopt values and goals from their past and climb the proverbial ladder of success only to find upon reaching the top rung that the ladder is leaning against the wrong wall.''