Increasing visitors in Bermuda’s off season relies largely on a cultural shift, Glenn Jones told Rotarians at their weekly meeting yesterday.

His topic, “Increasing visitor demand, and how the public can help”, focused on how residents can play an active role in the tourism initiative.

In his presentation, the Bermuda Department of Tourism’s (BTA) director of public and stakeholder relations showed that a collaborative effort between the BTA, the private sector and the department of airport operations has attacked the problem of reduced flights in the winter, creating additional seats from November to March, otherwise known as the “shoulder season”.

“We’ve still got to fill the seats obviously, but we’re off to a good start because we have seats to fill,” he told The Royal Gazette.

An increase in flights from the East Coast has reversed what was a diminishing trend in year-round flights from 2012.

Opening the slide of the adventure almanac, a colourful visual that charts which adventures are available in Bermuda and at what time of year, he singled out rock climbing and deep-water soloing.

“A write-up in Climbing Magazine said, ‘You’ll find the best conditions for roped climbing from December to April’,” Mr Jones said. “When we put together our almanac and talked to people in Bermuda who do things like rock climbing, they said they don’t rock climb in the winter, they just wait until the spring to do that and climb through the summer.

“And I think in some ways the people who live here don’t see the same opportunity that people who visit here see.

“These guys are crazy about climbing those cliff faces in the winter time because chances are they come from a climate that is very cold, but in Bermuda we don’t think of it that way ourselves and we almost need a cultural shift that gives us the imagination to think of ourselves a little differently because we’re trying to sell Bermuda a little bit differently.

“I feel we need to open ourselves up to the possibilities.

“We need to convince people that we can grow demand in the winter, but also that they need to provide their tourism experience in the winter because many in November, December and January, close their doors because they feel like there’s no tourism revenue for them to earn during that time. As we get increased visitation in the winter, these people are going to expect a robust experience and we don’t want them to come across closed signs. We want to tell everybody we’re open.”

The presentation came after the BTA unveiled their new “Uncover the Arts” brochure, which is aimed at promoting 50 activities and experiences that people can do throughout the winter and their collaborative #BDA365 campaign.