Bermuda Tourism Authority Bill To Be Submitted
Mr. David Dodwell, the Chair Designate of the Bermuda Tourism Authority recently announced that Government intends to submit a Bill to Parliament this month which will create the new Bermuda Tourism Authority.
Mr Dodwell said, “We have spent considerable time studying the National Tourism Plan and the functions carried out by the BDOT and the Board. We have embraced the National Tourism Plan in full with the exception of its suggested method of Governance.
“The Minister and I have created an Executive Steering Committee [ESC] which will make the transition to an Authority a reality. This committee will be chaired by myself and report to the Minister. ”
Mr. Dodwell’s full statement follows below:
The Minister of Tourism Development and Transport, Shawn Crockwell has made it clear that Government intends to submit a Bill to Parliament this month which will create the new Bermuda Tourism Authority. The Bill will see the end of the Bermuda Tourism Board as its responsibilities and those of the Bermuda Department of Tourism [BDOT] will be subsumed into the new Authority.
We have spent considerable time studying the National Tourism Plan and the functions carried out by the BDOT and the Board. We have embraced the National Tourism Plan in full with the exception of its suggested method of Governance. The Authority is the OBA Government’s method of creating an independent and accountable enterprise that will be the singular voice that continually evolves Bermuda as a world class tourism destination.
The Minister and I have created an Executive Steering Committee [ESC] which will make the transition to an Authority a reality. This committee will be chaired by myself and report to the Minister. Until we have appointed a CEO for the organization, the ESC will act in that position, ensuring that the critical functions of the Board and BDOT continue and the transition happens effectively over a short time frame. The ESC consists of; Mr. Francis Richardson, Permanent Secretary of Tourism Development and Transport, Ms. Jessica Mello, Director, Deloitte &Touche Ltd and Mr. Andrew Dias, General Manager of the West End Development Corporation.
The ESC has created a Project Management Office [PMO] which will be responsible for executing the strategic transition plan laid out by the ESC.
The PMO has been retained on a short term basis and consists of Michael J. Winfield, Erin Smith , Larry Jacobs, and Rasheeda Burgess. The PMO may be assisted by advisors with relevant expertise, such as Ernst & Young.
The ESC has retained a leading executive search firm, Korn Ferry, to assist in identifying a short list of the best candidates for the new Tourism Authority Board to review and appoint the first Chief Executive Officer.
We will be open, transparent and communicate regularly. This is the new way forward.
This is a very significant step for Tourism in Bermuda. We are working towards our vision of being an independent, modern, and leading tourism enterprise – dynamic, entrepreneurial, and vibrant.
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First of all Mr. Dodwell I’d like to congratulate you for the Reefs Hotel making number 11 out of 36 for best Island resorts for food around the World.
http://www.cntraveler.com/food/2013/06/best-food-resorts-hotels-restaurants-caribbean-south-pacific-islands_slideshow_11–Reefs-Resort—Club_11
Second I’d like to express my thoughts on this Tourism Authority, it’s a WASTE OF TIME.
You can change the name of the Department of Tourism to whatever you want. At the end of the day it’s still the same product.
Until the OBA or PLP Government officials realize it’s not the product but the PRICE we will keep sinking.
Let’s be honest now! What average resident, Bermudian or Work Permit Holder goes on vacation and looks for accommodation’s from $300 to $400 a night. I can go Jamaica or any other Island in the Caribbean and pay $150 for an all-inclusive.
No I don’t have the answers to lowering the price, but I’m not a MP or a Minister. I’m simply part of the majority (average) who travel abroad looking for affordable accommodations. I do believe having large hotel casinos would allow hotels to lower their price and still make a profit from their casinos winnings. I travel to Vegas twice a year and pay maybe an average of $110 a night at the MGM. If I stayed at the Reefs Hotel right now it would cost me over $440 a night and that rate continues until October.
https://gc.synxis.com/rez.aspx?Hotel=16098&Chain=6739&template=GCF&shell=GCF
You know not what you say. BTW, sharing to us that your “thought” about something is a “waste of time” is not a thought…it is a brain fart….so I would stick that where it came from.
I agree with you 110% Jaws. We have a beautiful product but even at my 6 figure pay check I’m not paying over $400 a night. I saw how the Reefs has rooms for $450. F@k that price LMAO. Black Soil where do you go and pay that price per/nite? If you going to be a critic add something to the solution. Never mind, we both know that you can’t afford that per night.
We have a beautiful product ? ?
Really ?
Can you remember back in the 60′s when tourism was booming and on the rise ?
We were ‘beautiful’ then . Peace and quiet , safe , relaxing , great shopping when Front Street was referred to as the showcase of the world , local entertainment on the outdoor terraces every night in the summer, nearly all the staff were Bermudian , and the land was not blighted with over development.
Now what do we have ? Concrete everywhere . Nary an undeveloped lot from one end of the island to another. Roads filled with out of control traffic and lunatics. Noise ,noise , noise. Litter every 15′ of visible roadway and in the hedges.
The only remaining ‘beauty’ we have is the shock value of our tropical colours and that wears thin very quickly in light of the aforementioned and $500 a night room rates.
We became victims of our own success and nothing is going to bring back the old days.
whos to say the “price” wont change with the “product”. at the end of the day, what we have is not working, so why not something new? one idea i say the authority takes into consideration is to subsidize the hotels. ie give them X amount every year which will allow them to keep Y number of rooms at a special rate all year around.
the problem with the tourism product in bermuda right now, are the prices of the hotels and activities. we can get tourists here for a good price thanks to airline subsidies, but the cost of everything here is what scares most people away! who can pay $400 a night hotel as a tourist? these amount should be reduced immediately to $100-$150 max which would allow them to spend more at restaurants, night clubs, attractions etc.
The product sucks in Bda. All we have is nice beaches and restaurants. After you eat at night we have nothing for tourist. If I’m going to pay $400 a night at any hotel it better come with 2 beautiful women.
$100 for the room and $150 for each lady.
……and who wants to open up a night club with these wanna be gangsters going around capping each other over $5 dollars. Not even worth the stress.
Lol,we are soooo sad !!!!
Well said my friend
I disagree.
It’s expensive to do things in Bermuda. That is a fact of life.
What we need to do is cater to those that can afford us, whether it be rich folks or, as in the old days, folks that saved up to come here.
We used to be a treat. We used to be a destination. Coming to Bermuda was a luxury.
The most important part of this, however, is that we have to be worth it.
We need to raise our game.
As mentioned, we used to be beautiful. We used to give amazing service. We used to have incredible entertainment.
We used to be worth it.
Instead of lowering our prices to what we’re worth, we need to increase our worth to match our prices.
We are overpriced for the mass tourism market. That’s a fact and we can’t change that.Trying to aim at the mass packaged tourist market is simply pointless and a waste of time and money.
We can however, appeal to other types of tourism market. Environmental tourism for one, or perhaps medical tourism. There is no question we already have a foot hold in the super wealthy tourism market. We just need to expand our horizons in order to increase our tourism market.
………..please open a hotel fast so OBA can deliver the 2,000 jobs and while you are at it:
- legalise weed for personal use under a set amount, say an ounce – anything over that, illegal possession
- allow nigh tculbs to be open all night
- relax liquor licensing laws to facilitate new tourist arrivals
- eliminate the restrictions for people to require visas from emerging market nations where we want people to spend their money here and visit Bermuda
- force Bermudians to accept that they are no longer special people who were left in charge to rule the world from this 21 sq mile island, maybe then we will learn how to be nice to visitors, from the minute they get off the plan and go into the immigration line, then the customs line, then the taxi driver, hotel bellman, waiter, bus driver etc etc
- lets get moving on this gambling thing by 30 October and stop wasting time, PLP and OBA get your act together
- since UK wont allow legitmate tax avoidance anymore to generate IB dollars, tell the FCO that you are initiating direct flights from Brazil, UAE, Russia and a few other places so that people can come here direct when we start the marketing effort and can get even 1 flight a week to start from Moscow, Beijing etc
I thought a Tourism Authority was created almost 2 yrs ago under the PLP regime!!!! That was the one where Tony Brannon was being given a load of BS – because he did NOT agree with all the other BS that was being said!!!
Talk about de **BLIND** leading de blind again!!!
I couldn’t even think about voting for you bye’s to operate a “lemonade stand”…. Let alone make decisions about Tourism for BDA!!!
So… because something completely different didn’t work under the PLP, you don’t think this will work?
Logical.
OH! You’re just totally biased against the Government. Got it.
We have 2 true assets in Bermuda for visitors – stunning natural assets and potential people assets. We are incredibly fortunate with the first and the second is in our control. Bermudians have been badly served in the last generation by being told to turn their backs on tourism in large numbers as it was “servile”. This is purely a race card. Tell that to the French and Italians in their own countries who are proud and professional with their visitors. All of us in IB are also in “client service” in one form or another and we recognize it and act accordingly. Those of us in Tourism need to do the same.
Lets stop bashing the TA and get behind it – it’s almost our last chance.