Tourism Board’s Report Completed
[Updated with video] Earlier today, Minister of Business Development and Tourism Wayne Furbert said the Tourism Board’s report – “Establishing the foundation for the National Tourism Plan” – is completed and will be tabled in the House of Assembly tomorrow [Dec.2]
The Report summarizes “Hot Buttons” issues, and includes immediate, two-year, and long term recommendations to revitalize Bermuda’s tourism. The Minister said the next phase, The National Tourism Plan, is still on schedule to be completed in mid-April 2012.
The Minister’s full statement follows below:
Good afternoon,
Two-week’s ago I advised that I would have more on the Strategic Imperative Report in the near future. Well, today is the day.
At the beginning of this year the Tourism Board was given the responsibility of developing a long-term National Tourism Plan that would serve not only as a tool of encouragement to stimulate and grow our tourism industry but also as a chart to guide us along the way and a benchmark by which to measure our performance.
The Board quickly recognized that they could not produce a Plan of that magnitude overnight. They also realized that interim measures were needed to address immediate concerns while the Plan was being developed.
Consequently, the Board set out to produce a Strategic Imperative Report. I am pleased to advise that the Report, titled, Establishing the foundation for the National Tourism Plan, is completed and that I will lay it in the House of Assembly this Friday.
I commend the Board for their journey to come to this point. In April the Board hosted a retreat with a cross-section of industry stakeholders to allow them to contribute to the future direction of the industry.
Additionally, the Board conducted a number of consultative sessions with key stakeholders. This process resulted in identifying the main elements of the proposed National Tourism Plan.
These are being referred to as ‘Hot Buttons’ in the Report and include:
- Transportation
- Marketing
- New Developments
- On-Island Communications
- Tourism Authority
- Cruise Ships
- Service Standards
- Airlift
- Gaming
- Bermudian Culture and Heritage
The Report summarizes the ‘Hot Buttons’ and lists related recommendations to re-establish new products and services, identify key areas to consider and develop, create a well defined year round visitor experience, and differentiate Bermuda in the market locally and globally.
This includes immediate, two-year, and long term implementation recommendations that will be implemented by the Department of Tourism in conjunction with our industry partners.
Ladies and gentlemen, the next phase, The National Tourism Plan, is still on schedule to be completed in mid-April 2012.
The request for proposal process is near complete and over the next two weeks I hope to be in a position to share the name of the service providers who will produce the Plan.
I now turn my attention to a team lead by the Board Chair, Mr. Malcolm Butterfield and Deputy Chair, Mr. Vincent Ingham.
This dedicated group of hard working individuals worked tirelessly to reach this milestone.
I have no doubt that they will be just as committed during the next phase of this crucial project that is imperative to the growth and development of our tourism industry and more importantly Bermuda’s economy.
Mr. Chair and Board members thank you for your unwavering commitment to the project, the Ministry and the tourism industry as a whole.
Thank you for believing in Bermuda.
Keep up the good work! Mistakes can always be corrected and you are on the right track. but voting oba is not an option!
Never an option!
Voting OBA is not an Option if you want to enact change and get things Done. A vote for PLP will be rewarding bad behaviour. A vote for PLP will mean the same old PLP policies which put PLP first and Bermuda dead last. Bermuda is dying.
Bad Behavior.. you can’t be seriuous. Look at where Bermuda is compared to the rest of the world. We’ve held up very well thank you.
Tell that to the unemployed!!! Tell that to those who have been victim of a violent crime. Furthermore, am I suppose to feel good because Bermuda is better “compared to the rest of the world.” Is that how you measure success? Yes…look at us PLP…we’re just as bad as the rest of them. What happened to leadership held accountable for their actions?
And that’s why some are called blind supporters…
can’t really complain about such labels when you make comments such as those…
but i am sure you will…
Keep it up? There hasn’t been any to date to keep up!
And why are we all delighted about all this? For the past 13 years PLP have been paid tons of money to come up with a Plan. And all they can do so far is the foundation for doing a Plan…? Why are we celebrating incompetence? And why do we need foreigners to help us put together a Plan??
Keep up WHAT good work? 13 years and they’re at THIS point? Putting out a brief memo and letting us know that a report written by foreign consultants is still planned for April 2012? That’s ‘good work’?
We don’t even know the name of the “service providers” who are doing the tourism plan. Why is that so secret? Are the “service provider” consultants based in Martha’s Vinyard?
So, 13 years and all, all they’ve been able to do is identify some hot button topics. FFS – a four year old could have done a better more timely job.
Things is Wayne, we don’t believe in Bermuda as long as you twats are in charge.
13 years folks. After 13 years this is all we have. Clowns.
Patrice wanted to spend 1M to an overseas consultant….I hope this is not what they came up with …..we’ve known that we need to address these points for years…what do we pay DOT for anyway….to pay consultants to tell us what we already know? Geeeeeeezzzzzz
The problem with this board is instantly recognizable .. More men than woman ! It is usually the woman in the house that decides where vacations will be spent , so it stands to reason that women should also have a greater influence as to what products a destination should offer .
not in my house
These old scarecrows are driving this? Oh no.
The problem with the board is that not one of them comes from the tourism industry.
The other problems with the Board is that they have no power, no Authority to get things done. At the end of the day PLP insiders with decide what gets done, and that means PLP comes first and Bermuda last.
Hot buttons? Really? Is that what 13 years has given you, Bermuda? A hot button?
Sort the crime, stop ripping people off, treat tourists like kings and queens and realise that without their dollars (and the dollars of the many guest workers) Bermuda would dry up……
A quick karaoke session in London won’t fix this one for you Mr. Minister!
Go’wan Wayne. Sing us an ol’ song there.
More Cog-wash…where is the beef…
And how many years was Dr. Brown in charge of tourism? Coming up with this perverse puff of smoke at this late date is meaningless – issues such as gaming, car rentals (yes a huge issue for tourists), duty free shopping, and fun, fun, fun should have been dealt with at least a decade ago
Good to see the ex Leader of the UBP, elected as a UBP MP, taking charge of Tourism after 13 years of PLP mismanagement and self interest. Maybe there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
Usually a freight trains attached to that light ..
Ministers are now starting to look like Premiership football managers. In the PLP camp if wayney furbert is removed the Premier has a pretty good back bench to fall on, she can bring on Rolffy, or even walty Brown, and if she really wants to stir things up she can bring on the Colonel.
Wayner looks like a Carnival Barker,Mafia Don….who else dresses like that….like a cartoon
We all dress that way in Bailey’s Bay on Sundays. The good man was just coming from Church after explaining his Damascus like conversion… Seems the Congregation were converted too, that is to the idea that God is happy if you throw a few dice after buying the groceries on Sunday… Where you been all this time?