Unsuspecting tourists do not deserve to be dragged into Bermuda’s internal issues when they are trying to enjoy their vacations.This is the view of Linda Smith who has hit out at Bermudians for dwelling on their own concerns instead of flying the flag for tourism.The businesswoman says we are sending out “a negative perception of Bermuda” which tourists then take home with them.Mrs Smith, who was a judge and speaker at Bermuda’s VIP Excellence Awards, said: “We’re doing ourselves no favours as we are bashing the Island in front of our visitors.“We are doing it without realising it and we are putting our own tourism product down.“There are always challenges and problems facing Bermuda but we don’t have to shout about them.“Visitors come here to have a good time and we should be helping them to enjoy themselves.”Mrs Smith is calling on everyone to see the Island as “an asset we should be very proud of” and to “promote everything that’s good.”This means residents need to think twice about what they are saying when in public to ensure they “only discuss appropriate things” in front of visitors.This could include striking up conversations in stores and restaurants to complain about the service, the attitude of staff or even the rise in violent crime.Mrs Smith, who is senior vice president of corporate relations at Belco, said residents had to “manage themselves” to make sure they made a good impression at all times.She said: “When you invite someone to your house for dinner you wouldn’t show them all the junk you have hidden in the closet.“Or if you’ve had an argument with your husband, you would try to hide it, you wouldn’t highlight it and ask others for their opinions.“You put your best foot forward and put on a good show.“We have to start to treat our visitors like visitors to our homes. They come to Bermuda with expectations of having a good time and we shouldn’t get in their way.”Mrs Smith said moaning to tourists or quizzing them on controversial topics will just “put things they’ve probably never thought of” into their heads.She said: “If you put something in their minds, that’s what they are going to think about. But if they never hear about something they will be none the wiser.“There’s always going to be issues, but they should be kept behind-the-scenes.“We have a beautiful product and beautiful people. Leaving a great impression with tourists should be our only aim.”The Royal Gazette spoke to Mrs Smith after she aired her views at last month’s VIP Excellence Awards at the Fairmont Southampton Resort. The red-carpet event is like Bermuda’s very own ‘Oscars’ of the hospitality industry.But Mrs Smith said when the first cruise ship of the season arrived at Dockyard it struck her “how negative we could be about Bermuda and the level of service.”Mrs Smith heard a radio reporter quizzing cruise ship passengers about a lack of taxis in Dockyard. She said it sounded as if the reporter was “trying to convince them there was a problem they hadn’t even noticed.”As Mrs Smith had her say at the VIP Excellence Awards there were nods of agreement from Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Kim Wilson and tourism director William Griffiths.Mrs Smith said she has also had lots of comments and e-mails since the event with people saying: “I agree, we shouldn’t really be doing this.”Mrs Smith, who has a background in journalism and public relations, said: “It’s not a criticism of anyone or anything, it was just an observation and I felt strongly enough to speak about it.“When I heard the coverage of this traffic kafuffle it just struck me what we do all too often, we involve visitors in our own issues.“I had just come back from holiday myself and I’d got a really good sense of what sets Bermuda apart.“I had a renewed appreciation for the Island, I had this sense of pride and was excited about what we had to offer.”