This is the text of the speech given by the Premier and Tourism Minister Dr. Ewart Brown this afternoon on the latest tourism figures and initiatives to try and build the numbers back up.

At the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Investment Conference held right here in Bermuda last month the President of the World Travel and Tourism Council shared a bleak forecast. He said tourism and travel will contract significantly this year. And after receiving the results of our first quarter it should be abundantly clear to everyone that Bermuda Tourism is not immune to the regional and global trends of an economy in dramatic downturn.

Total visitor arrivals for the opening quarter of 2009 declined by 27.84% year over year. A total of 32,361 tourists visited the island during this period, down from 44,845 in 2008.

Air Arrivals for the first quarter of 2009 fell 22.75% compared to the same quarter in

2009. A total of 32,235 flew to the island, a decline of about 9,500 visitors versus the first quarter of 2008.

Visitors from the United States continue to make up the largest percentage of air arrivals to the island, representing almost 67% of all air visitors in the first quarter, down slightly from 69% in 2008. Visitation of travelers from the United Kingdom and Canada increased their share by one percentage point each, representing respectively 11% and 15% of total air visitors.

All categories of commercial properties except Inns showed declines in the first quarter of 2009 with total visitation in commercial properties declining 28%.

Average nights stay declined to 6.17 nights from 6.31 nights during the first three months of the year, with average nights stay in commercial properties coming in at 4.17 nights, a slight decline from 4.81 nights in the first quarter of the previous year.

A late opening to the cruise ship season saw no ships arrive to the island in the first quarter of 2009, compared to the three small ships that arrived in 2008. This should pick up as we move into the summer season where we expect cruise visitation to increase with the completion of our new Heritage Pier in Dockyard. This additional pier will accommodate larger ships which have increasingly become the industry norm.

Yacht arrivals have also decreased in the first quarter by 191 persons… 317 in 2008 to 126 in 2009.

In the face of this downtrend we have certainly attempted to up the ante with our efforts in an attempt to minimize the severe reduction in bookings as a result of this once in a generation economic downturn.

The department aggressively partnered with the member hotels of the BHA to promote a Compliments of Bermuda $200 / $300 / $400 promotion between November 2008 and March 2009. Marketing dollars were redeployed, especially in the core northeast, and the Department of Tourism contributed $650,000 in subsidized funding of hotel packages for this specific promotion paid directly to hotels.

Results of Bermuda Tourism specific joint promotions with Bermuda hotels in fall and winter 08 / 09 realized 5,031 bookings or 10,062 passengers for a total direct contribution by the Bermuda government to hotels of $900,000.

The BDOT executive team, in mid-February, completed a comprehensive 2009/2010 sales and marketing plan designed specifically to address the current challenges faced by Bermuda in the face of the current economic downturn.

This plan has been shared with tourism stakeholders in the BHA. The main objectives of the plan revolves around heightening the department’s digital marketing strategy; concentrating marketing efforts on the core northeast market with secondary attention to the UK, Canada and Europe; and developing major promotional activities that drive business to Bermuda.

The Sizzling Summer 400 Program which provides a $400 credit for visitors on a minimum four-night stay follows along the theme of direct monetary support to hotels.

We also stormed through the northeast of the United States recently to motivate our industry partners to sell Bermuda. The Director of Tourism, our director of Global Operations and I all gave presentations to groups in Philadelphia, New York and Boston. Approximately 25% of Bermuda’s business is attributed to retail travel agents and we will continue that commensurate level of support to this distribution channel.

It is clear to me that speaking engagements provide a good avenue for us to get word out on the street about our outstanding tourism product. I can think of one such example in the first quarter of this year.

In March I had the pleasure of delivering a speech to the Young Presidents’ Organization at one of its regional functions in Miami. My appearance was arranged by the leaders of the YPO Bermuda Chapter. My marching orders from them were simple: get the audience of CEO’s and other business leaders excited about the chance to come to Bermuda for a retreat in November of this year. So I did my best and I am confident the Platinum Period message of Bermuda Tourism was well received.

There was a residual benefit however that was not forecasted. Chad MacDonald, President of Service Force USA, was among those in the audience. It turns out that Mr. MacDonald and his finance Natalie Owens - also at the event - were shopping for a place to have their destination wedding. They were looking at Jamaica and Turks and Caicos, but were concerned about how long it would take for their guests to get there - most of whom would be flying from the northeast.

That’s why a small section of my speech resonated with Chad and Natalie. I told the audience that night, “From New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Charlotte and Miami you can be in Bermuda in about the time it takes to finish the New York Times crossword puzzle.”

From that moment forward, the MacDonald-Owens wedding was destined for Bermuda. After the speech they came over to say Bermuda had just moved to the top of their list.

And they were serious.

They have already blocked 40 rooms at the Fairmont Southampton for their estimated 60 guests and are busy planning with the help of Linda Mitchell at Bermuda Travel, one of our certified Bermuda travel specialists in the United States. Linda is here with us today and I just want to acknowledge her with a round of applause for the work she puts in on behalf of Bermuda Tourism.

Linda tells us that Chad and Natalie will walk down the aisle on June 26th at the Fairmont Ocean Club. They also hope to plan celebration events for their guests on the Venetian luxury yacht and at the Tucker’s Point Beach Club.

I couldn’t be more pleased that a line about a crossword puzzle has led to a fabulous destination wedding in Bermuda and a little summertime stimulus for Bermuda Tourism.

However, the story doesn’t end there. Mr. MacDonald has told us he is determined to bring a janitorial supply industry conference to Bermuda in 2011. The group is called NISSCO and will travel to Montego Bay, Jamaica in 2010. They will need someplace even more spectacular to visit in 2011. Fairmont and my colleagues at Tourism are already working with Mr. MacDonald to tout Bermuda as conference host and attract hundreds of visitors for the event. I like our chances. And again, all of this was born from a speaking engagement in Miami, proof that such engagements can be very productive. My gratitude to the YPO Bermuda Chapter leaders; they have helped us spread the “feel the love” message in a very tangible way.

They are also feeling the love during this year’s baseball season at Fenway Park.

In March we unveiled our new marketing partnership with the Boston Red Sox and the Deutsche Bank Golf Championship. And at least once a week since that day I get some kind of communication from members of the public here or in New England telling me what a smart move we’ve made. For example the Red Sox newsletter writers say they got a good flood of e-mail from readers who have been to Bermuda who now say they want to come back as a result of this new relationship between red socks and pink Bermuda shorts.

I have also heard from our private sector partners up at Pompano. They tell me they have booked a few guests as a result of seeing Bermuda Tourism ads on New England Sports Network. I couldn’t be more pleased with the feedback… our thanks to GlobalHue for landing this deal. It is a difference maker.

There is now a committee of people busy at work finalizing the plan for the Red Sox Bermuda Night at Fenway Park on June 19th. Early next month we will make the entire plan known to the public. One of the great attributes you will see this year is bigger participation from the private sector. When they heard the same buzz we did they eagerly jumped on board and together we are planning for a big night in Boston on June 19th as part of our sustained marketing effort in New England. Stay tuned.

The New England market is just one of the places where we will be heavily promoting the new Port Royal Golf Course.

In January we had breathtakingly beautiful Bermuda weather for our “First Look” event at the newly renovated Port Royal Golf Course. We had a mixture of tourism industry professionals, politicians and everyday fans of the game. Always careful to protect the new course from early overuse, we played a mini-round on just eight holes, but I think that was enough to give everyone a true sense of the highest standards in quality now on hand at our public golf course.

All the course renovations are now complete; they are just waiting on the grass to grow on the back nine. The new high tech irrigation system has kept the course in fine shape despite the exceptionally dry spring. In fact, the front nine is ready to go. Limited play…open to the public… on the first nine holes begins tomorrow. Limited nine hole play will be available on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Next month limited play will open for all 18 holes and then after that… we will go full tilt.

I could not be more pleased because we have big plans for Port Royal in the overall Bermuda Tourism strategy, not least of which is the PGA Grand Slam of Golf in October.

But of course Port Royal is not just a visitor draw; it is “the people’s course”. So we are doing something unique. Earlier this month we began Port Royal renovation tours for the public. Anyone who is interested can call the course and make an appointment to have a tour of Port Royal on Tuesdays, Thursdays or Saturdays. Tour guides will explain the changes we’ve made and the high tech attributes of the course that make it one of the best public golf courses on the planet.

Just as a side note, a citizen e-mailed the tours suggestion to me about a month ago and already we have put her idea in place. I want to thank her publicly for the suggestion and to use her as an example - yes, I read my e-mail and yes when you have a good idea we will use it. It’s just that simple.

One of the areas where we saw growth in the first quarter of 2009 was the Bermuda International Love Festival. This year’s event was extremely successful with the level of sponsorship received, the quality of the sponsors and their commitment to partner with Bermuda Tourism next year to make the event even bigger and better. Upwardly mobile visitors bounced around the island generating revenue for local restaurants, hotels and golf courses. There were even special tours arranged so visitors could get a look at fractional units for sale around the island. The event culminated with a truly exciting final evening performance by Earth Wind and Fire at the Fairmont Southampton.

The sponsors this year included Elle Magazine, Chopard Jewelers, Departures Magazine, Golf World, Jetblue, Robb Report, Veranda and W magazine. In many cases the Love Festival partnerships we formed with publications will result in editorial coverage of Bermuda. A critical part of our strategy is ensuring every major event results in additional marketing of the overall product.

This year’s Love Festival attracted 160 attendees and the target for visitors in 2010 is 300. Next year’s theme will be built around food, fashion, music, golf and spa - all connected with the theme of Valentine’s Day. There will be a mixed-pairs golf event and a best of the best event sponsored by the Robb Report.

January’s International Race Week also showed growth and continues to be a valuable event to attract visitors. We congratulate the new organizing management of this event. The team has done a fine job increasing visitation in the past two years.

In 2008 there were 298 overseas entries from 14 different countries and in 2009 - despite the economic climate - 453 overseas entries from 18 countries came to Bermuda. That’s an increase of more than 150 overseas entries. There were an estimated 600 visitors overall who attended the events in 2009.

Plans are well advanced for even greater numbers in 2010.

Also in January, Bermuda hosted the annual regional Bridge Tournament, for the fiftieth time, held at the Fairmont Southampton hotel. This event is very well regarded in the bridge world and is a significant source of repeat visitors. At least 50% are returning guests each year.

There were 329 visitors in 2009, a drop of 14% over 2008, and the average stay was six nights. Although somewhat disappointed with the drop, Chief Tournament Director Sol Weinstein who attends all the major tournaments in the US said Bermuda’s numbers were very good, as many tournaments in the US have been significantly down - up to 50% down year over year. The falloff, of course, is indicative of the global downturn to which Bermuda is not immune.

Given the positive response to the 2009 tournament, and the fact that the 2010 hotel rates are comparable to 2009, tournament organizers are confident that they can regain the good results they are accustomed to.

Overall we continue to strengthen existing events and add new ones to the first quarter lineup.

There was also very positive airline news in the first quarter. Jetblue provided a 50% increase in seat capacity out of JFK on February 14, 2009 with the introduction of the 150 seat aircraft.

Delta Airlines also announced the reintroduction of their La Guardia service with three flights weekly which begins tomorrow.

Right now you will notice things have started to heat up a little bit with tourism around the island as our 2009 Sizzling Summer Activities program is underway.

The Airport Exit Survey and other research indicated our visitors enjoy historical and cultural things to see and do. Salsa dancing and street festivals were among the activities that our visitors particularly enjoyed, therefore, we have created a program that we believe will bring much added value to our visitors’ holiday experience.

These free events are proudly sponsored by the Department of Tourism and are hosted by various partners and vendors that include the Corporation of St. George, Corporation of Hamilton, Chamber of Commerce, the West End Development Corporation.

We believe our guests will enjoy every one of these sizzling summer events from the increased schedule of the ‘St. George’s Historical Reenactment’ and storytelling in Bob Burns Park to our new ‘Gombey Saturdays’ performance and photo opportunity in the magical setting of Par-la-Ville Park. We welcome all our visitors and hand out information on the history of the Gombeys after each performance. This activity is not to be missed! Also the popular movies on the beach series will be back as well.

The Royal Naval Dockyard is the most happening place on Sundays these days and our new event called the ‘Taste of Bermuda Calypso Sundays’ is the best place to be. Last weekend our visitors had a ‘dancing’ good old time to Bermuda songs and tasting wonderful Bermuda treats.

You may also know by now that, for the first time, Saturday ferry service is operating Dockyard to St. George’s. The service started on April 18th and will operate on 13 Saturdays when there are cruise ships berthed in Dockyard. The ferry schedule operates with four round trips a day. We are providing this service in response to input received from residents and businesses in St. George’s.

We want to encourage cruise visitors to experience all that Bermuda has to offer and operating direct service from Dockyard to St. George’s on Saturdays will greatly improve their transport options.

As Bermuda regains its tourism footing with the rest of the world and new hotels come on line, we will need a workforce ready to meet demand. So it is timely for us to talk about our efforts to build a stronger Tourism workforce. In the first quarter of this year we rolled out a new workforce initiative to generate new excitement and the feedback thus far has been very positive.

My first stop was Elbow Beach where I worked in guest services and as a bartender at the Veranda Bar. I’m happy to report that I made a good amount of tips that afternoon… which were reluctantly shared with the other bartenders on duty.

Then it was off to Fairmont Hamilton Princess where I spent the day in the Leadership Development Program. My wife congratulated me when I got home because the bosses at Hamilton Princess told me I had management potential.

At both stops I was under the tutelage of some very talented Bermudians who care deeply about Bermuda Tourism and are constantly committed to doing a good job. I hope the spotlight of this workforce initiative shines on those people the brightest because when our young people see these Bermudians advancing their careers in Tourism they will be more likely to show interest in the same line of work. And that’s what “Rejuvenating the Bermudian Workforce” is all about.

The initiative will be far more successful if we can rely on the participation of the media. Only some media have shown a commitment to coverage of this initiative and I am grateful for the help of those organizations because I believe this workforce rejuvenation message is important to the future of Bermuda Tourism.

The anecdotal evidence is already in. I have gotten e-mails and calls and Facebook messages. A representative from American Airlines has asked us to bring this same initiative to her workplace at the airport. A local restaurant owner, who knows of my history as a wine steward, has asked me to come into his establishment to shine some pride on the service side of the restaurant industry. Even a taxi driver pulled over and wanted to know when I was going to get behind the wheel in his line of work! I’ve told all of them we will continue this program, and even expand it, for as long as it looks like it is creating excitement and helping to rejuvenate the respective workplaces.

Meantime, planning for the Bermuda Hospitality Institute is at a critical stage. We have assembled a group of motivated individuals that is representative of the industry and as we speak they are laying the foundation for the BHI. The Institute will encourage the development, growth and sustainability of Bermudians in the industry which is vitally important to the future success of Bermuda Tourism.

As you know, we laid out our comprehensive plan for the Bermuda Tourism Workforce in the first quarter and now we are ready for the next step. The formal launch of the Bermuda Hospitality Institute will occur in the next few weeks.

In the area of Transportation Control we spent a lot of time in the first quarter discussing Graduated Licensing. After much consultation with stakeholders across many sectors of our community, I am pleased to advise that the legislation has been tabled in the House of Assembly.

Graduated Licensing is a system for phasing in on-road driving, allowing beginners to get their initial experience under conditions that lower risk and introducing them, in stages, to more complex situations. We are taking steps to protect the lives of our children.

Meantime, I think it is fair to say that the transfer of the examination of motor vehicles from TCD to Bermuda Emissions Control was a successful one. On April 6th, just after the first quarter, BEC took over full duties of motor vehicle inspection with emissions testing to all vehicles. Not only are we looking to protect our children with the Graduated Licensing Programme I mentioned earlier, but we are looking out for the rest of the residents of this country by ensuring our ambient air quality is of the highest standard.

The general public will hardly notice any difference as BEC will operate from the main TCD site where TCD currently tests motor vehicles. As for the actual test, this will remove a lot of the subjectivity by using technology to assess the vehicles safety. This will incorporate headlight testing equipment, brake testing equipment which can measure the breaking efficiency of each wheel individually, exhaust gas analyzers to measure how clean the engine is operating and scissor lifts to check the underside of the vehicle.

For added convenience, BEC will also operate at the two satellite stations. One at Rockaway near the Ferry Terminal and one at Southside, just down the street from the Big Lots furniture store.

And to aviation now where we have seen tremendous growth in the Bermuda Register of Aircraft in recent years. In March of this year, the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) embarked on a Strategic Planning review. The project will be carried out in three phases.

The first phase is a comprehensive review of the ‘as is’ situation. This will include all current responsibilities and how they are accomplished, identifying the associated processes and their effectiveness, current working practises and their impact on efficiency and demonstrable compliance with regulations. This phase is expected to be complete by the middle of May.

Phase two is to perform an analysis of the report compiled in phase one and to develop business models that directly relate to the BDCA responsibilities and associated functions. The analysis would also include functions either wholly or partly subcontracted and how they are accomplished together with the effectiveness of this approach. Future subcontracting and its merits will also be reviewed and whether or not it suits the BDCA business. The models produced will be used for the future strategic business plan and provide assistance for determining how best to scale the department for increased activities and fleet numbers. This phase will follow closely on to phase one.

The third and final phase will be to provide a set of recommendations in the form of a business plan and to detail the strategy for future years that will encompass further aircraft numbers and new responsibilities. Future regulatory changes will be considered and at the same time how they will change the functional processes identified in phase one. The business plan will also discuss the options of subcontracting, regional offices and delegated accountabilities. This phase is expected to be complete by the end of June.

Before I open the floor to questions I want to end this speech where I began, with the President of the World Travel and Tourism Council. When he provided the international tourism sector with his message it was dreary, but he also provided a silver lining. He reminded us that the tourism sector has been set back before, but time and again visitors came back, people start traveling again.

And when they travel again we believe they will be more likely to visit or re-visit those destinations where the tourism product is fresh and buzz worthy. With the new Port Royal and the revitalized Dockyard, with the new Tucker’s Point Hotel and the crowd-pleasing Newstead, with the soon coming Park Hyatt, Four Seasons and Grand Atlantic - we think Bermuda Tourism is in a position to capitalize on the comeback. I trust all of our local Tourism partners will be ready.