Ministers spend more than $162,000 on overseas travel
Ministers spent more than $162,000 on travel arrangements in 2025, according to the Government’s travel calendar.
Nine ministers took 41 trips during the year at an average cost of $3,959.12 per trip.
The total marks an increase on 2024, when ministers took 31 trips costing $158,957.03, compared to $162,323.97 in 2025.
David Burt, the Premier, spent the most money out of any individual in 2024, with expenses totalling $36,331.27 across eight trips.
This included the most expensive trip of any minister, which was a visit to Warsaw, Poland for the Eurofi Financial Forum 2025. On that trip, Mr Burt met with a number of senior European Union and national leaders from across the continent. The trip cost $10,211.41.
As Minister of Finance, Mr Burt spent $21,384.07 on four trips. This included him attending the Salt/Kracken Blockchain Symposium in Wyoming, US between August 17 and August 22, where he gave a talk about Bermuda’s approach to digital finance and worked to strengthen ties with US officials.
As Premier, Mr Burt spent $8,977.15 across three trips, with the most expensive being $4,149.85 for the ForbesBLK Summit in Atlanta, Georgia, between October 8 and October 10.
The event, which featured Black leaders across different fields, involved Mr Burt having a “fireside chat” with Ali Jackson-Jolley, assistant managing editor at global media company Forbes, about how Bermuda was creating a digital economy.
Mr Burt also took a five-day ministerial trip on behalf of the Ministry of the Cabinet Office and Digital Innovation.
The $5,970.05 trip ran from September 18 to September 23, during which time the Premier represented Bermuda in the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York City.
The conference, according to the calendar, involved meetings such as the Project Bridge Investor Roundtable and the Accelerating Trade Across Africa meeting.
The event description added: “While in New York, Premier Burt also met executives from Circle, Chainlink, New York Life and the Bank of New York to advance collaborations on digital identity, tokenisation pilots under Bermuda’s regulatory framework and domestic digital payment initiatives, including oversight of live pilots and pathways to scale.
“At Circle’s 1 World Trade Centre headquarters, the Premier served as a judge for the Circle Impact Pitch Competition, spotlighting digital-asset founders.”
Mr Burt’s expenses represented 22.38 per cent of the $162,323.97 spent.
Jason Hayward, the Minister of Economy and Labour, had the most expensive ministerial itinerary and spent the second-most on travel.
The travel calendar showed Mr Hayward used $35,760.14 across nine trips, with the average trip costing $3,973.35.
The most expensive trip, ABIR’s 18th annual International Insurance Regulatory Dialogue in Brussels between September 2 and September 6, cost $8,325.07.
The third-most expensive itinerary, and the busiest, belonged to Owen Darrell, the Minister of Tourism, Transport, Culture and Sport.
Mr Darrell spent $33,642.84 over 14 trips, with the most expensive being a $4,202.24 meeting with British Airways in London, according to the records.
The meeting discussed air service to Bermuda ahead of the Fairmont Southampton’s 2026 opening and the surge in demand expected to come with it.
Travel by Alexa Lightbourne, the Minister of Home Affairs, focused on her ministry’s core mandate, particularly cost of living reform, regional engagement, energy policy and economic resilience.
A ministry spokeswoman said Ms Lightbourne’s duties, government-approved, were aligned with defined policy objectives.
She added: “The minister’s participation in the Second Africa-Caricom Summit formed part of Bermuda’s broader strategic engagement with regional and international partners and was held in Ethiopia.
“Cost relates squarely with the expense to travel that distance to advance Bermuda participation and interests, including food security, trade diversification and regional co-operation.
“The outcomes of that engagement have since informed ongoing work related to Bermuda’s Caricom engagement, a Throne Speech pledge carried forward from 2024.”
She highlighted that Ms Lightbourne had spent 16 days off the island during her 310 days as minister.
She said Ms Lightbourne was satisfied that her work overseas was necessary and aligned with delivering “tangible outcomes for Bermudians”.
“In that context, the associated costs represent an investment in securing policy progress, partnerships and opportunities which should not be undervalued or delivered in isolation.”
Alexa Lightbourne, the Minister of Home Affairs, had the second-highest average after spending $23,606.57 across four occasions, averaging out about $5,901.64 per trip.
Her expenses, which the Opposition questioned in September, made up the third-most expensive ministerial itinerary of 2025.
Her most expensive trip was to the Caricom-Africa Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, which cost $10,094.49.
Crystal Caesar, the Minister of Education, had the most expensive trips on average of those who flew more than once.
Ms Caesar took two trips over the year, which averaged out at $7,243.65.
She spent $9,750.29 to attend the Education World Forum 2025 in London between May 17 and May 21.
She then attended the Caribbean Disability Conference in Barbados between October 17 and October 22 — during which time she spent $4,737.69.
Diallo Rabain, the Minister of the Cabinet Office and Digital Innovation, participated in the only other trip for his ministry.
Mr Rabain spent $1,970.20 to attend Canto’s 40th Annual Conference in the Bahamas, which took place over five days and focused on creating a “unified and stable gigabit society”.
Several other ministers took only one trip during 2025.
Kim Wilson, the Minister of Health, spent $3,221.40 to attend the World Medical Innovation Forum in Boston between September 15 and 17.
Kim Wilkerson, the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, spent $4,079.11 to attend the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force Plenary in Trinidad and Tobago between May 25 and May 30.
The conference involved Caribbean member states participating in mutual evaluation reports to grade and strengthen each other’s compliances with international financial crimes mitigation measures.
Tinée Furbert, the Minister of Youth, Social Development and Seniors, spent $8,217.40 to attend the International Woman Leadership Conference in Dubai between March 19 and March 21.
The Government has been approached for comment.
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