Furbert: “We Are On A Mission”
His Ministry is on a “mission” to increase GDP and jobs through increased tourism arrivals and international business, Tourism & Business Development Minister Wayne Furbert said yesterday [Feb.28].
Minister Furbert hosted a press conference to expand on his Ministry’s planned initiatives, with $38.5 million having been allocated to Business Development and Tourism in the 2012/13 Budget.
“We are on a Mission,” said the Minister. “The Mission is simple but yet challenging: To increase GDP and Jobs through Increased Tourism arrivals. Grow Jobs in existing International businesses and encourage New Businesses to come to our shores.”
The Ministry of Business Development and Tourism’s 2012/13 budget estimate of $38.5 million, comprises of $5.2m for the Ministry headquarters, $28.7m for Tourism, $3.5m for the Registrar of Companies and $1m for E-Commerce.
The Ministry is putting together two advisory committees to work with the Business Unit; the “Business Development Committee,” and the “Business Sustainability Committee.”
Minister Furbert also said they will be “actively pursuing” fund managers to relocate to Bermuda, and the Registrar of Companies will complete a major upgrade of its computer system.
In addition, a new grant will be offered to the Bermuda Investment Management Association in an “attempt to stimulate diversity in the international business marketplace.”
On the topic of tourism, Minister Furbert said they will complete the National Tourism Plan in early spring, and an Interim Report will be presented the week of March 12th.
He continued on to say that the Ministry will restructure the Tourism Board so that “more individuals who are directly involved with Tourism will sit on the Board,” and the Ministry will showcase live Bermudian entertainment at hotel properties as well as through hosting tourism visitor events.
“We are working on a plan to specifically target high-net worth individuals who can make a difference for the Island going forward in Business and Tourism,” said Minister Furbert.
The Minister’s full statement follows below:
Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen,
We are on a Mission.
The Mission is simple but yet challenging: To increase GDP and Jobs through Increased Tourism arrivals. Grow Jobs in existing International businesses and encourage New Businesses to come to our shores.
We will move our island in the direction of a bigger and brighter future. There are those who believe in Austerity – we believe in Growth. There are those who believe the glass is half empty – we believe that the glass is half full. There are those who see clouds – I see sun shine beyond the cloud.
I believe over the next twelve months we will see increases in construction jobs, increase in international business jobs. We are on a path of increase. I believe life and death is in the power of the tongue, hence, I speak life and not death. You see, I believe that the best is yet to come!
The Strategy:
Business Development
We consider ourselves navy seals. In other word we will act quickly and with precision. The Ministry is putting together two advisory committees to work with the Business Unit. These committees are expected to be nimble and act and react quickly.
- The first committee will be called the Business Development Committee (BDC). This Committee will consist of the heads of Business Bermuda (BB), Insurance Development Council (IDC) and the Bermuda Investment Managers Association (BIMA), Mr. Shawn Morris. Other industry representatives and a chair, Ms. Caroline Foulger from PWC. Their task will be to bring synergy between the groups by working together for the common cause and economy of scale. Their task is also to consider ways of bringing new businesses into Bermuda and to ensure that legislation is currrent.
- The other group will be called Business Sustainability Committee (BSC). This Committee will converse with ABIR, & ABIC to see what we must do to sustain current businesses and what must we do to grow jobs within that industry within 12 months.
- The Ministry will be actively pursuing fund managers to relocate in Bermuda to increase GDP, create jobs, create market diversification, improve brand equity and build sustainable industry.
- The Registrar of Companies will complete a major upgrade of its computer system to meet international standards as well as streamline application processes.
- From a regulatory perspective, the Ministry will turn to the Asset Management Advisory Committee which has recently been formed to ensure that the Government, BMA and the private sector have a forum through which to coordinate business development initiatives.
- We will continue financial support to Business Bermuda and the Insurance Development Council and have offered a new grant to the Bermuda Investment Management Association in an attempt to stimulate diversity in the international business marketplace.The Ministry will also be working with Business Bermuda and the Insurance Development Council to determine ways in which resources can be pooled to maximize the funding. For example, both groups produce a newsletter, the aim would be to produce one newsletter between the two of them releasing funds for other initiatives.
- The Ministry will seek to stimulate growth by diversifying the business sector to broaden Bermuda’s product offering. We will be looking at any and all options available.
- We are working on a plan to specifically target high-net worth individuals who can make a difference for the Island going forward in Business and Tourism. A shotgun approach will not work. We will have a focused approach to put us in Direct contact with these individuals.
Tourism
Turning to Tourism we are intentionally focusing on finding things of value because we believe that with a reduced budget, value is what can fuel the future and move us ahead in the right direction.
- We will complete our National Tourism Plan in early spring. The Plan will provide a vision for Bermuda’s tourism industry for the next five to ten years and an outline of the way forward to accomplish the Ministry’s goal of repositioning Bermuda in the global tourism market and to become a year round destination with the required products, services and marketing to support this goal. An Interim Report will be presented the week of March 12th, I would expect that the authors will have at least a town hall meeting to let people know where we are and get feedback, before the Final report is presented in May.
- On completion of the national Tourism Plan we will launch of new Tourism Brand as well as increase awareness with daily exposure in all media streams. The Ministry has already increased awareness in our key feeder markets through effective television ads.
- In an effort to employ Bermudian entertainers and at the same time create a forum for visitors to interact with residents, the Ministry will showcase live Bermudian entertainment at hotel properties as well as through hosting tourism visitor events.Additionally, the Ministry will continue to support the broad spectrum of visitor demands in the forms of tours, museums, and street festivals.
- The Ministry will focus on ‘value’ and thrive for a greater return on investment for all sponsored events.
- The Ministry will restructure the Tourism Board so that more individuals who are directly involved with Tourism will sit on the Board. These individuals will be given more authority over how the sales and marketing and promotion dollars are spent.
Ladies and gentlemen,
You have heard a few of the key activities that will be undertaken with the Ministry of Business Development and Tourism’s 2012/13 budget estimate of $38,557,000, which comprises of $5.2m for the Ministry headquarters, $28.7m for Tourism, $3.5m for the Registrar of Companies and $1m for E-Commerce. At this time I am happy to answer any questions you have.
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He wanted to get to the top
At nothing he would stop
He showed the Old Guard
Called the usual Race Card
And now he’s known as Flip Flop
Since when has Wayne Furbert called a race card? Even though I don’t think he’d ever do that if he did he would have to get a a really good tan to do so.
One of his reasons for leaving UBP was he said there was racism within the party. Maybe there was and maybe there wasn’t. The thing is, calling the race card is becoming very old – but it is something he did at that time. He’s probably embarrassed by it now. I thought he was a good guy until he flip flopped over to PLP. Can’t trust anyone who does that – in either direction I might add.
My apologies for my last post being prose but I needed to make the point. I’ll get back to the poetry I promise.
Wayne talks about bringing the “fund managers” to Bermuda. That was an idea of Business Bermuda. Wayne could not dream this stuff up. Problem for Wayne is that he does not have the calibre to figure out how to do the job. He does not even know what a “fund manager” does. Listening Wayne??? You know this never came from PLP or your head. You now hope for deliverance. Good luck. You are over your head. Stick to the cartoons.
Agreed. I am a PLP supporter, a CFA by profession ie I manage money for a living and he does not fully understand the investment management industry. Further, he is asking now a bunch of volunteers fto do what Business Bermuda does? thus wasting time and money of a bunch of truly expensive people
Minister Furbert realizes he doesn’t know much about marketing just as the tourism ministers before him didn’t. Minister Furbert also realizes that even though he doesn’t know much about marketing neither do Business Bermuda. They have failed with past projects so he’s giving a chance to other local professionals. This is outside of the box thinking & doesn’t necessarily mean its at a higher expense. The guys who did the spring break video charge much less then some other prominent advertising agencies here. CFAs are great with managing money but when it comes to marketing they cannot grasp that concept & order cuts in advertising expenses at the worst possible times like in a recession. Don’t expect only word of mouth to bring tourist to Bermuda because that only travels so far
Thats not playing a race card because there is no advantage gained. He was just explaining the reason for his move would it be better if he made something up?
In the report your reffering to Wayne says, “Why do I say this? Because it is time to remove the myth that sometimes permeates these islands. That if you’re UBP you are right, and if you are PLP you are wrong or vice versa.”
By you typing, “I thought he was a good guy until he flip flopped over to PLP. Can’t trust anyone who does that – in either direction I might add.” you are proving what Wayne said.
Wait a sec didn’t all the UBP boys and gals go to the other party in 24 hours. I’d say we are all flip flops. Really think of something else Poet and stop with the race card news. The election will be here soon.
Oh boy…maybe…and I mean maybe a tourism “plan” by the spring??? After 13 years PLP cannot even get a plan going? Sad.
Absolutely. He’s on a mission
http://tinyurl.com/6vb6kea
+1 to you….
I needed a laugh today
“We consider ourselves Navy Seals…..”
Really? I cosider you to be performing seals!
Throw him a fish
Totally disrespectful to the skills and bravery of real Navy Seals. More like elephant seals.
More like too much Black Seal….
What a joke, the Minister is only just seeing the need for a ‘National Tourism Plan’ and the need to involve “more individuals who are directly involved with Tourism” on the Board.”
All things aide, the Minister clearly has a sense of humour with his announcement of “the Ministry’s goal of repositioning Bermuda” – the Minister has already shown that he is very good at “repositioning”!
Like the on again / off again ‘new Par-la-Ville hotel’ – a lot of the same spin we have all heard before from Tourism, but nothing changes….
How can you type, “What a joke, the Minister is only just seeing the need for a ‘National Tourism Plan’ and the need to involve “more individuals who are directly involved with Tourism” on the Board.”
Its only been a few months not even a year that Furbert became tourism minister. National Tourism Plans don’t grow on trees. Why don’t you tell us all who has come up with anything better for years now. Has Shawn Crockwell or his leader Craig come up with any better ideas? As I have typed before no one needs to be in the current government to apply a tourism campaign for Bermuda. If anyone else thinks they can do better this is one area of the sectors that they can try in. There are no laws that say only the government can promote tourism here.
Plan on investing 80% of Tourism’s ad budget in our Primary Market: IE: those affluent folks who live in the Northeast Atlantic Seaboard Gateway Cities. You’re wasting valuable advertising budget if you, say, dump a lot of money into attempting to increase “ethnic” traffic to our Islands… or attempt to improve tourism numbers from Great Britain… or Canada. Spend our ad dollars where they will create the best return on investment! IE: MORE BED NIGHTS IN HOTELS. Screw the cruise ships!
“Plan on investing 80% of Tourism’s ad budget in our Primary Market: IE: those affluent folks who live in the Northeast Atlantic Seaboard Gateway Cities.”
We have tried getting the affluent folks to come here for years now. They rather go to places more recognized for affluence like the south of france or Mustique Island. Investing 80% is not going to change their minds these other places don’t need advertisement they sell themselves.
“attempt to improve tourism numbers from Great Britain… or Canada.”
When people in Great Britain come to visit statistically they stay longer than those in America. Also they like to travel lighter than those in America. Longer stays along with them traveling lighter means more return on investment because they have to spend more in Bermuda than those on a one week vacation.
As for Canada they are doing much better than their neighbor through the recession & have more who can afford to come to Bermuda. Also they are less likely to turn their nose up to a winter vacation here. It is cheaper to fly from Canada to Bermuda then to fly from Canada to the Caribbean. All that is needed is a slight drop in hotel prices & a trip starts to look quite desirable to a Canadian. Overpricing of hotel rooms is not helping tourism at all. In this economic climate everyone is penny pinching & the wealthy are doing it more so.
“Screw the cruise ships!”
I whole heartedly agree! cruise ships are designed to keep passengers from wanting to go on land. They put everything at their finger tips. The bigger the cruise ship the more there is to do on it. The more there is to do on a cruise ship less gets spent in Bermuda.
DoT has spent million$ in GB and Canada!… so where is the return on that investment? There isn’t one, simple as that.
I’ve been in the advertising & marketing business for over 40 years, so I do have some credibility. Spend our money where it will return the largest numbers of visitors (duh!)… and that is in the Northeast Atlantic Gateway Cities where we have air lift. It is a HUGE market that is being neglected because DoT amateurs are wasting our ad money on totally useless little promotional events. This is typical of Ewart’s PLP/BIU Party.
That is my opinion. Take it, or leave it.
BTW, mostly all fly-in visitors are “affluent.” They have to be to afford to stay here. I really can’t see room rates going down in the near future.
Interesting! Did you go from the advertising & marketing business to being a taxi driver or do you all of the above?
I’m in the advertising & marketing business also & have been for years. Being in this business I like to keep an eye out for interesting developments. I fly to Canada every year because many of my relatives live there. I’ve never seen an advertisement for Bermuda in Canada & neither have my relatives who live there. So I have no idea where those millions went but they’re not reaching their market were ever they’re buried. You say there are no gateway connections in Canada. Where do you think the airline Air Canada got there name from. Hu-yuck! Hu-yuck! Hu-yuck! 8-b Not to mention west jet & all the other cheap connection flights. Even without any visible advertising there are still loads of Canadians who visit here every year. Many Canadians come for the horse shows in Bermuda every year. There’s even a Bermuda picnic every summer in toronto for those who love Bermuda to meet with island expats.
Your suggesting marketing the northeast atlantic gateway cities. Well I don’t know what rock you’ve been under but they’re in a RECESSION & all that bull about them climbing out of the slump is just that. While Canada is RECESSION FREE & making money off all the electricity & oil they sell to northeast atlantic plus all the hollywood films that are made there. Anytime you see Grand Central Station in a movie its really Toronto’s Union Station. You want the affluential to come here well Canadians are the new affluential population while America’s economy sad but true will not get better.
@ Tommy Chong – While flabbergasted that we do not currently have a working national tourism strategy and that the Tourism Board still is not reflective of those who are stakeholders in tourism, you are correct that the blame for this lies not with the new Minister: the blame instead clearly lies with the PLP and the previous Minister for Tourism.
It amuses me that the PLP are quick to throw political stones at the OBA for having former UBP members in their midst – a bit like the pot calling the kettle black (if I dare use the ‘B’ word!!!)
Ask yourself Why did so many of the black UBP MPs cross the floor and Join the PLP? The answers do not bode well for the UBP/OBA. I will refer to the era in our political history. Black MPs were not respected for their intelligent competencies and leadership abilities. They also faced racism, white supremacy and elitism from white leaders within the party. They were not treated with any great value. Go read Uncle Jim’s book”. Mr. Woolridge spoke out about this practice of the UBP. Mr. Woolridge explains on page 125 of his book “The House that Jack Built”, “You little white boys don’t mind a black man being in charge as long as you can tell him what to do”. This alone speaks to deliberately deceiveful practice of placing persons in political positions based upon race. What the UBP wanted were “nice” blacks whose “inclusion” was expedient. They were not, in the main, considered credible and these well intentioned members deemed it necessary to form a black caucus. Lastly, Dr. Eva Hodgson stated, “Of course segregationist whites welcomed blacks politically because they could never have won the government without blacks. They certainly have not shown any interest in “integrating” anything else apart from the political party.” So maybe this is a question you do not want to ask too often, if you want the real historical facts. Many accept those members from the UBP as coming home to PLP, because of the injustices they suffered under the UBP/OBA. The selection of Mr.Cannioner as leader of the OBA, suggest that this same practice is continued today.
Uncle Jim made out very well under the UBP!
I’m sure if the OBA had chosen a white leader we never would have heard the end of it from the likes of you. So don’t give me that B.S. It’s getting very old.
Their mission is to destroy this country one $ at a time.
Actually…every day its $750,000 dollars at a time. Hello Jamaica!!!!
Well! This is a joke time and time again all talk no action. I’m just tired of him always blowing smoke. when will he make up his mind to stop. The mission is for him to continue to be like in the western movies be a tumble weed just flip flopping down the dusty road he talks out of both sides of his mouth and maybe his lips are moving but his rear end is doing the real talking.;)
Yeah he’s on a mission. He just doesn’t know where he’s going or how to get there.
And speaking of all of the PLP’s highly successful tourism initiatives, does anyone know how successful the spring break initiative was? I’m guessing it was about as successful as the faith-based initiative?!
Close to 50 students who all said they loved it here & would come again. Furbert made sure these students got the red carpet treatment. He’s like the Obi-Wan Kenobi of the plp a bit of an eccentric fellow but our only hope while we are still under this government. Too bad the rest of his team seem to be a bunch of siths.
So were there more than ~50 students? Any that said they did’t like it? How much revenue was generated by this, and how much did the gov’t spend on it?
We’ll NEVER EVER know the truth!! That’s Ewart’s PLP/BIU Party for you, and their ongoing idea of gummint transparency. Jokers.
We need a change. We cannot afford the Party Lovin’ Party any more!!!!!!
For your first question there were about or close to as I typed before 50 students not more than 50 students. It was hard to get an exact count with all the action going on but it was obvious there was about 50.
None of the students I talked to which was pretty much all of them said they didn’t like Bermuda they were just sad to leave & wished they had more time to visit. Many were from Montreal or Toronto so the weather was hardly a minus to them & they had no problem getting in a bikini or swim trunks & jumping overboard. The biggest hit here was the rum followed by the friendliness of the locals & the natural beauty of the island.
I don’t know the answer to your third question but it would be interesting to know.
Wayne said tonight that they got 100 students per week for the 3 weeks of College Weeks. It’s a start at least….
I didn’t see anywhere close to 100 at the event I went to but it was a day thing. The ones there said they were very hung over from the night before so that may explain why the rest were not there.
All in all I hope this keeps up. I was very proud to see Bermuda looked at as a fun place. One student told me, “You don’t know what you’ve got here!” I must agree I & many others don’t know till we try out every intelligent option.
It’s amazing how some people could be phony and deceitful . When Mr. Furbert was UBP/OBA , people of your ilk thought he was the best thing since slice bread, or you never criticized him, but now that he is PLP you have nothing but contempt for him. You are a bunch of jokers.
I personally feel that Wayne is a very personable bloke. I actually like him. But whether or not he knows what he is doing with Tourism is another matter entirely.
US GDP up 3% end of final quarter in 2011.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17208037
If the US economy is our biggest revenue source, why is Bermuda’s GDP still in contraction under the PLP. I thought the US recession was to blame for our poor economic condition? If we had implemented a tourism strategy in a timely manner we might currently be in a better position to take advantage of this recent uptick. Again, if we actually had adjusted our budget and immigration policies in a timely manner then we might be in a better position. The policies need to be effective though and to date they are not. Revenue is down, GDP is down and there is no domestic indication that it will get better in the medium term.
The Government have and keep failing us in our time of need.
That said, Mr.Furbert is probably the best thing they got! He is the only one who seems to have any reasonably bright ideas!
Exactly!!! Imaging trying to get something positive to happen while working around a bunch of numbskulls. Furbert saw the ubp falling apart & made the choice to make a risky move into the lions den. Where was he to go? To the OBA? He would have been forced to play Craig says if he did that. Not even the milkman who had better ideas than the gas man has a voice anymore.
And he’s from the UBP! What a laugh. He’s learned under the best.
Not the U.S. recession, the WORLD recession, doe-doe.
Immigration & Customs ‘people policies’ are gonna have to be drastically improved. THE FIRST MOST IMPORTANT THING TO DO: Remove all the rude surly Immigration and Customs Agents at the airport who DO NOT know how to POLITELY and EFFECTIVELY deal with visitors!! I heard another complaint from a visiting businessman a couple of days ago. He was shocked at how rude the Customs Agent was when SHE was dealing with him at the airport! What’s wrong with these people? – we are in the SERVICE business!! And so we should give POLITE service!
Otherwise, we’ll be shooting ourselves in the foot – again.
Not all the World is in Recession. Mainly Europe and the US. The US having the largest direct affect on Bermuda. So yes you can say the ‘worldwide’ recession but in reality that is not true.
The US cannot be in a recession when it reports growth in its economy for the final quarter of 2012:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17208037
Yes you are right, read my original post above! The point is why are the government continuing to blame the ‘worldwide’ recession for it’s shortfalls when the largest contributor as a nation is already coming out of recession and we are still dilly dallying over policies and strategies. If we had good policies in place already we would be poised to pick ourselves up along with the US. Instead we a racking up more debt and still waiting on things like a ‘Tourism’ strategy and immigration changes which should have been done over a year ago!
True, true
A lesson for you. Yes the US is our major trading partner but Bermuda will track a US recovery by at least 9-12 months. If you read, you will see that we are already beginning to feel the effects of recovery locally – building supplies sales were up by 50% in December, property sale transaction volume is increasing tremendously…We might not like the price…but the market has readjusted
@Please
I doubt that the recent up-tick in building supplies or property sales as anything to do with the recent positive growth in the US economy.
More likely, the increase in building supplies is due to persons who have been holding off on doing renovations due to high cost. Contractors have had to bid more fiercely for business which as put downward pressure on their bids, making renovations more affordable. Also, we have government charging forward with a new phase of “affordable housing”. Breaking ground on these units will show as a blip in building supplies since building the structures requires a heft of materials.
It is likely a similar scenario exists with property sales volume. I subscribe to a few real estate agents newsletters. Most of what I have been seeing lately is; reduced, reduced, and reduced. Property values have fallen while qualification for loans has increased. Individuals that were about to purchase before it all went belly up did not purchase; they continued saving to meet the higher qualification for a loan. Now having reached the qualifications and with more properties in reach of their loan threshold they are buying. With real estate what you want to look at is the median sale price (per type of home; residential zoning, lot size, and bedrooms) over time and the median days on the market over time. I believe that you will see that the homes that are selling are at a significant discount to what they would have sold at just a couple of years ago and that they have been on the market for a significantly longer period of time. Also, look at the inventory at real estate agents over time; its a lot higher, currently.
Ride
The hateful posts here are a coordinated political action by bda’s tea party like group who get together every morning and start to post negative false things about he govt. there are only a handful of them but they clog up these bda news sites to give the illusion that their numbers are great. Most cannot even vote here. They are not members of your church, social clubs or ots organizations. ignore them. VOTE PLP.
What claptrap! I suppose they are all white too. No ‘real’ Bermudians post here anyway, right?
I agree with you real talk. A prominent politician who has now passed on , said that when he was a member of UBP/OBA, one of his responsibilities was to spend a good part of the day writing letters to the Royal Gazette. He confessed that many of the letters were very nasty. I have noticed that everyone who brings our checkered past to the fore is accused of playing the race card like star man has done. We play Just one card but I would like star man to realize that people of his ilk play up to this day the rest of the deck.
Sorta like how PLP paid Americans to post on Prgressive Minds (the PLP youth blog) in teh run to the 2007 election?
So the PLP have adopted yet another UBP idea since 2007 then?
LOL
No politicians who belonged to the OBA have passed away that I know of.
The OBA is vastly different from the old UBP and the current PLP, they represent the WHOLE community!
The ridiculous posts here by pro-plp people are a coordinated polical action by bda’s hate groups who get together every morning and start to post negative things about anyone who disagrees with the govt. There are only a handful of them, but they clog up these bda web sites and give the illusion that their numbers are great.
Their leaders include a little round poisonous woman who posts while she is supposed to be working and a failed and dishonest film maker who lives overseas and sits in his underwear making ridiculous comments every 20 minutes.
“Sir John W Swan: There can be no doubt the global recession has been the primary determinant of our current economic circumstances but you will certainly hear on Friday that this Government is largely responsible. It takes an incredible leap in logic to view the damage to countries in every corner of the world caused by the financial meltdown and then posit a theory of Bermuda exceptionality. The redevelopment of Sonesta Beach and Coral Beach/Horizons were stopped dead in their tracks with the dramatic collapse of investment giant Lehman Brothers, the company providing the financing. Bermuda lost hundreds of millions of dollars and hundreds of jobs and this had nothing to do with domestic policies. This is one clear and obvious consequence of the global recession.”
in short, bda is suffering bcuz of the global recession: “llapse of investment giant Lehman Brothers, the company providing the financing. Bermuda lost hundreds of millions of dollars and hundreds of jobs and this had nothing to do with domestic policies. This is one clear and obvious consequence of the global recession.”
@ Real Talk. You begin with “Sir John W Swan” presumably to mislead people into thinking he wrote what followed. An outright falsification that should be removed by Bernews. This was taken from an opinion piece by Walton Brown in today’s Royal Gazette.
Where is the missing $800 million?! Where DID it go…? Cuz, we could sure use it now!
Why aren’t we LOOKING FOR IT??!
No response…? Mmmmm.
Maybe in Martha’s vinyard,and the Turks and Caicos or the New York apts…
star man you raised a very interesting comment…
my apologies, my previous post is actually from Mr. Walton Brown, not Sir John Swan. Their pieces where next to each other.
Walton: There can be no doubt the global recession has been the primary determinant of our current economic circumstances but you will certainly hear on Friday that this Government is largely responsible. It takes an incredible leap in logic to view the damage to countries in every corner of the world caused by the financial meltdown and then posit a theory of Bermuda exceptionality. The redevelopment of Sonesta Beach and Coral Beach/Horizons were stopped dead in their tracks with the dramatic collapse of investment giant Lehman Brothers, the company providing the financing. Bermuda lost hundreds of millions of dollars and hundreds of jobs and this had nothing to do with domestic policies. This is one clear and obvious consequence of the global recession.”
in short, bda is suffering bcuz of the global recession: “collapse of investment giant Lehman Brothers, the company providing the financing. Bermuda lost hundreds of millions of dollars and hundreds of jobs and this had nothing to do with domestic policies. This is one clear and obvious consequence of the global recession.”
The truth is that hotel development stopped dead in its tracks here because the developers found out what the ‘real deal’ was with Brown & Burgess.
Star man,Bermudians are now seeing what Brown and Burgess were all about !!! Bermudians please wake up…..look who were doc Browns buddies,…Zane . Rolf and Dennis, and they all had their own agenda…. but the truth is about to come out very soon…….
This doesn’t explain why thousands of IB jobs have gone to other countries, taking with them many hundreds of millions of dollars. That was the result of Governement’s policies on term limits and work permits which they now accept were wrong as they are being reversed. Sure there was some impact from the Global Recession, but if you look at the annual Government revenue since 2007 it has remained fairly static, no big drop off, but expenditure has continually risen, as has debt. That is not the fault of the Global Recession. That is because there is no one in control of Bermuda’s finances. We have a weak cog as the Minister of Finance who is ignored by the Ministers. If she does demand any action they carry one regardless and she is too weak to control them.
Totally agree with you ‘Bewildered’.
Thank you, Bewildered, for making those points. Even if she could demand their loyalty and respect (real respect, as in doing what she requests, not just lip service), the Unions would step in and flex their muscles.
Thats why he went to Florida to the Cape.
What goes up…..
star man says:
February 29, 2012 at 12:42 pm
The truth is that hotel development stopped dead in its tracks here because the developers found out what the ‘real deal’ was with Brown & Burgess.
and ur proof is – or is it that era again we just smear blk men, btw barack’s a muslim and a kenyan socialist
False equivalency is still false equivalency.
Don’t be so full of hate dude , chill .
Oh… So you know about the real deal, then. And what the hell does the American President have to do with any of this?
The proof is the self-evident fact that dozens of hotels closed and have not been replaced. The “cast iron promises” by Ewart Brown came to nothing. Every ‘promised’ new hotel development, right up to the promises made in his last days in office, were absolute nonsense. The guy was either completely and utterly delusional, or he was completely and utterly lying. He talked about there being $3,000,000,000 ($3 billion) of investment “waiting in the wings” to be deployed in hotel development in Bermuda. Most people knew that was a lie the minute he said it. And those people were right.
Burgess is still there, and he doesn’t quite understand the fact that investors might want someone who is actually ethical as a counterparty. They don’t want to deal with someone who’s guiding principle is “I can do anything I want that doesn’t get me convicted”. In normal business, that kind of person is called a slimeball.
Ewart certainly has been quiet lately, wonder why? Is he still secretly pulling the PLP/BIU puppet strings and calling the shots? He may well be…
No more talk Wayne!!! Show me a new hotel…please!!! Enuf is enuf!!!
Wayne Furbert is a turn coat , and is only looking out for himself,like all politicians in Bermuda… think about this stuttering tourism minister who has hell to read the script in front of him…..Jim Woolridge did not need any notes.. he spoke from the heart !!! Hey Wayne how did college weeks pan out ? it was a dismal failure and you in the D.O.T know it !!!!!!!!!!!
so stop the B.S. we Bermudians are to smart to to listen to your retoric….
a real joke …100…wow. we are on a mission..lol
Well done Mr Furbert, keep pushing to rebuilt a part of our Tourism economy. You are doing a wonderful job, despite the difficulty of Tourism today. Keep pushing on.