PLP & OBA On Tourism Authority
Both the OBA and PLP have accused each other of trying to mislead people over their positions on a Tourism Authority.
The PLP said that “Establishing a Tourism Authority is tantamount to privatising the Ministry of Tourism which will necessarily mean laying off civil servants who may not get replacement jobs during these challenging times.”
Premier Cox said, “The OBA can’t have it both ways. They can’t say that they are going to privatise much of the Ministry of Tourism and abolish the post of Minister of Tourism in one breath and then, in the next, say that they are going to protect all civil service jobs. They either protect jobs or establish the Authority. No matter how you slice it, the OBA is misleading you.”
Business & Tourism Minister Wayne Furbert added, “The OBA pledged to cede power to the Governor who would appoint the Tourism Authority. It’s clear that the opposition has no confidence in the hard-working men and women in the Department of Tourism.”
The OBA’s Pat Gordon-Pamplin said the PLP’s “effort to spin our position on a Tourism Authority for Bermuda into a plan to lay off civil servants is a pathetic and desperate attempt to mislead people by fear mongering.”
“A Tourism Authority is all about, and only about, putting the operational leadership of Bermuda Tourism into the hands of professionals who can be held accountable for the performance of the industry.
“Lack of accountability, and lack of expertise at the top of tourism, has been at the centre of the Island’s disastrous tourism decline over the past 10 years – a decline that has cost Bermudian jobs and careers,” said Ms Gordon-Pamplin.
Ms Gordon-Pamplin went on to note that Wayne Furbert “liked the idea a few years ago when he was leader of the UBP. In his 2006 Throne Speech Reply he said: ‘The United Bermuda Party believes that any recovery must begin with the formation of a Tourism Authority. Let’s put professionals in place to run things.”
The full statement from the PLP is below:
In one breath, The OBA say that they will not privatise government departments and they will not fire civil servants. In the next, they say that they are going to eliminate the Ministry of Tourism and establish a Tourism Authority.
Establishing a Tourism Authority is tantamount to privatising the Ministry of Tourism which will necessarily mean laying off civil servants who may not get replacement jobs during these challenging times.
Patricia Gordon Pamplin, OBA spokesperson for Tourism, made the OBA’s commitment to a Tourism Authority clear in her candidate launch speech. She noted that we would find the “right people with the right skills” to administer Bermuda’s Tourism plan. Quite a slap in the face to the hard working men and women in the Tourism Department!
In his Budget Reply, Bob Richards never addressed the issue of how an OBA Government would fund this new Tourism Authority, but this is consistent with other proposals trial ballooned by the OBA.
Premier Paula Cox noted, “The Reply to the Budget was the OBA’s opportunity to present a detailed and constructive agenda. Instead of providing solutions, they once again offered vague ideas without being transparent about how they’re going to be funded or implemented.”
The Premier continued, “The OBA can’t have it both ways. They can’t say that they are going to privatise much of the Ministry of Tourism and abolish the post of Minister of Tourism in one breath and then, in the next, say that they are going to protect all civil service jobs. They either protect jobs or establish the Authority. No matter how you slice it, the OBA is misleading you.”
Minister Wayne Furbert added, “The OBA pledged to cede power to the Governor who would appoint the Tourism Authority. It’s clear that the opposition has no confidence in the hard-working men and women in the Department of Tourism.”
Rather than stating what they would do differently, the OBA is repeating initiatives already underway by the PLP Government such as a reduction in consultants and instituting a hiring freeze. The Bermudian public deserves specifics: what would the OBA cut? And whose jobs are on the chopping block?
The full statement from Pat Gordon-Pamplin is below:
The OBA said definitively in its Reply to the Budget that an OBA Government will freeze the size of the civil service and reduce it by attrition with “no public sector employees made redundant.” That means no civil servants in any department laid off, period.
The PLP’s effort to spin our position on a Tourism Authority for Bermuda into a plan to lay off civil servants is a pathetic and desperate attempt to mislead people by fear mongering. It’s the worst form of politics – basing a political attack on an inexcusable misunderstanding at best, a lie at worst.
A Tourism Authority is all about, and only about, putting the operational leadership of Bermuda Tourism into the hands of professionals who can be held accountable for the performance of the industry.
Lack of accountability, and lack of expertise at the top of tourism, has been at the centre of the Island’s disastrous tourism decline over the past 10 years – a decline that has cost Bermudian jobs and careers. The OBA will put a stop to that, using the expertise and accountability of a Tourism Authority.
Even Mr. Wayne Furbert liked the idea a few years ago when he was leader of the UBP. In his 2006 Throne Speech Reply he said: “The United Bermuda Party believes that any recovery must begin with the formation of a Tourism Authority. Let’s put professionals in place to run things.”
We couldn’t agree more.The PLP have been pushing hard to say the OBA will fire civil servants, thinking this will scare people into voting for them. We’re trying to do what’s best for Bermuda, which is to restore growth to tourism – meaning jobs, jobs and more jobs for Bermudians.
We would be happier if the Government, instead of demagoguery, engaged in debate about the idea, such as why our idea for a Tourism Authority is better than a tourism industry led by Wayne Furbert. We’d love to have that debate.
Finally, before focusing their guns on us, the Government might want to explain to the existing civil servants why many of them are being refused extensions to their condition of employment and will be forced to retire at March 31. The government is playing games with people’s lives and livelihoods.
They are insisting that we do their work for them as they have shown clearly that they are out of ideas and out of their depth.
I’m sorry but on this particular issue I have to agree fully with the statement made by the Hon. Wayne Furbert, now the Minister of Tourism. He summed it up brilliantly in 2006 in his reply to theThrone Speech when he said: ‘(We believe) that any recovery must begin with the formation of a Tourism Authority. Let’s put professionals in place to run things.” Did anyone accuse the then UBP of wanting to privatise the Department of Tourism or did everyone understand that he was talking then about replacing the Minister and his Board with a Tourism Authority.
The Civil service running tourism is probably the major reason why Bermuda’s tourism product remains, outdated, lacking imagination , UN-developed, UN-productive, financially wasteful, with lack of clear objectives and the necessary projects to turn things around. There was supposed to be a plan on the table from the government over a year ago and still to-date we do not have one!? Where is it? At the moment the US economy is recovering and we are so far behind on picking up that recovery. If new hotels take several years to build, will we be in a position to meet the needs of a recovered US economy in 2+ years time!? We currently have no hotel development as promised under the PLP and promised at the last election. If you promise something and fail to deliver then surely you have failed. Failure should speak for itself. The government wants to keep control of tourism so they can control how the money is spent and how they can overpay and continue to siphon off funds to themselves and their cronies. Andre Curtis and Global Hue are clear examples of blatant financial miss management and disregard for public money.
Totally agree with you, Bermyman.
Getting rid of a few heads in a department that has not delivered in nearly twenty years…Of course it’s a good thing.
The spring break promo & Grand Central promo were good ideas from the minister of tourism but I’m starting to think that was the extent of the good ideas. For plp & oba To go back & fourth debating & disagreeing on ideas so similar is a waste of precious time. Furbert already announced months ago that he was looking at the private sector for help in tourism promotion so I don’t see the difference in what oba is saying to what plp is saying. Its like both parties need a grown up sitting between them to mediate some progressive thinking.
Its alludes me to why every idea for tourism promotion is outward. Why put millions into pushing Bermuda to masses abroad when many of the millions DOT plans to spend could be used to make Bermuda an attraction for tourist. Those mentioning new hotels need to be real. We have enough hotels already tourism is not going to pick up to the point of no vacancies within a few years. Those mentioning new casinos need to be real also. There are casinos in reach of our market already so why would this be enticing in Bermuda.
We need to work with what we have & keep it preserved i.e. the beauty of Bermuda’s natural environment. This is one of the biggest pushes we have for tourism & it is slipping away & becoming covered over with concrete. Of course this is only a portion of the market which will be adults probably from 30 year old to seniors but by this age many have families. The families can be pulled in with attractions that can be built on land where our old hotels existed. If DOT plans to spend millions than this is where it should go because family fun in paradise is a massive market. Forget about building casinos & think about a indoor outdoor water park for winter & summer. Most adults will tell themselves they have a limit to spend on the poker table with ease but when it comes to their kids its much harder to set a limit. For those who don’t get my logic I’l make it more tangible. If any have been to Disney or any theme park just think about how much money your spent there without thinking. Good clean family fun tis what kept Bermuda’s tourism buoyant for years not las vegas antics. Now our competition like Bahamas has blocked us out of the market but not with casinos as some of us have been mislead to believe but instead with family fun.
Our DOT is spending way too much on promotional advertising & way too little on our island which correct me if I’m wrong is what is supposed to be sold through the millions of dollars in promotional advertising. Can’t say much about oba either because they sound & read as if they will do the same one way or another if elected. Would someone with wealth & progressive thinking please create another party so I can get off the fence because its becoming a pain in the backside.
@Tommy. Brilliant post! I’d vote for you!
I agree. We much do more to improve the product and the product will sell itself. The water park, all inclusive type resort is an excellent idea. Another way to boost the product is to offer re-development breaks to a few small guest houses and help them to move their inns to the new century. Have you seen any of them lately? Rattan furniture, plastic tables, mildewed drapes, weathered linens, flowers, flowers and more flowers.no wireless internet…no in-room bars…get into this century. If these places do not get into this era with the product demanded, then the rooms will not get filled.
Thats it!!!! Good ideas also!!! Now where cooking with Black Seal!!! That’s the type of approach the DOT needs outside of the box. I don’t care who does it just get it done.
Isn’t this what democracy is supposed to be about?
For the people by the people!
I want to know who will fund it – who will be responsible for running it – how will policies be made into law if it no longer is apart of the government
The government plans to spend 30 plus million on tourism. I have now clue where they will get this much but where ever their getting it from doesn’t it sound better that professionals find intelligent ways to spend it. If the government messes up this 30 plus million will turn into extra debt.
And no other caribbean island has one -
No other island that is as close to most north American east coast states & Toronto. Plus it’s still safer to go out of your resorts confines than the majority of the touristed islands in the caribbean. We are still a plus nation even with the amount of minuses we’ve been faced with. If we keep looking at the ground we will never see the sunlight.
Sorry, I have to argue the safety issue. There are many places safer than Bermuda.
I recently returned from Elbow Cay in the Bahamas Abacos. NO locks on the doors of the house that we rented. The island moves at the speed of a golf cart. People do not remove keys from them either. There is one old police car on the island. The resident cop spends his days giving directions to visitors.
I imagine Bermuda used to be something like this in the 1930s.
The Elbow Cay has less than a thousand in population & is only 6 miles long. Its not the most touristed island in the Bahamas Abacos. If Bahamas relied only on this island for tourist they would fail. That being said I’m sure it makes for a more peaceful surrounding being isolated from the big business areas of Bahamas but cannot be compared to Bermuda. In Bermuda the only advantage to compete with Elbow Cay would be to build a small guest house on one of our isolated islands like Hawkins. This would be a great idea but would not bring enough tourist to save our economy.
Please stop exaggerating because Bermuda in the 1980s at the size of 20.6 square miles at a population of 63,000 was just as safe as Elbow Cay & no one had to lock their doors here either. If some of us didn’t drink the BET rap city koolaid offered by cablevision in the 90s & encouraged by the plp the crime rate would still be as low as the 80s. At one point in the 80′s there was a TV station strike & this did wonders for encouraging the positive development of the youth at that time.
Re the TV station strike & development of youth…Good one. Are you alluding to the baby boom that occuerd 9 months after the strike?
In a way yes because I know many 30 year olds that are a product of that boom that are great assets to the workings of Bermuda.
For over thirty years hoteliers, the BHA and stakeholders have demanded that Government establish a Tourism Authority that they could control and operate. The only stipulation is that Government hand them the total tourism budget each year, thank you, now leave it to us!
Unfortunately, tourism is never going to be fixed by the 65,000 experts expressing opinions on island. Tourism cannot be saved by “experts” imported from abroad either. Never forget the (Andy Vladimir) debacles of the numerous other “experts” paid a million dollars to save our souls. These imports have always been good for one thing and that is to say, oh! they screwed up! terminate the contract, pay them the full amount and make them the fall-guy. Indeed many of them are just that anyway!
Bermuda has the idea tourism is solely something Government money must fix this is not true. If we ever get the skeletons out of the closets, you will see and hear why major hotel companies don’t take us seriously. Owners of the real property have always short changed everyone else. When they made money in the eighties, they did not re-invest, at least not in Bermuda. When given tax breaks and allowed to sell units as condominiums in the nineties, they exited the tourism business altogether. There are some stalwart exceptions to this rule, but basically they all look out for themselves.
So, If you have a pillar of the Bermuda economy called tourism, it would be extremely stupid not to have a Government Ministry even for a Minister? Is the suggestion or vision to cut out the civil servants and Minister? Just have the Auditor cut the big check and hand it over to victors in the “Authority” and leave the people the spoils yet again. Has anyone use for the word quango? Keep Bermuda beautiful, keep it green, bring cash! Sooner or latter stakeholders have to provide value for the green!
Although the UBP leader is the hardest working person within the PLP – Bermuda now needs to move on a try something different. We need to move to a tourism authority. Not to worry PLP bloggers there is still a place for the UBP leader. Once he is removed from tourism he should be instantly made to become the finance minister to replace the Cog! She has proven to be the worse finance minister under the worse government ever!
With all the free advertising available on YouTube and Facebook, I still don’t understand why we are spending money we can’t afford on expensive advertising promotions. Those couple of amateur videos of people rock jumping that went viral should have rang a BIG bell in the Tourism Minister’s mind. The fact that it didn’t tells me he is still thinking in the 20th century. Many of us have FB friends around the globe. Sharing a couple of great videos is pretty simple and costs nothing but some time. I hate to be cynical, but maybe that’s why the idea hasn’t been picked up – no reason to have a big budget.
I think a water theme park is a great idea, although last time I said it, somebody gave lots of reasons why it wouldn’t work. They might have been good reasons but they didn’t resonate with me, so I would need to hear them again – if that blogger is still around.
Maybe the Minister should look at reviving the “Faith Based Tourism” initiative and ask Pastor Syl to head to intiative. It appears that she has some good ideas for tourism and as a “pastor” she must have a following or a “flock” that follow her.
After all she has many “FB friends around the globe”.
I’d be happy to run Faith Based Tourism. I’d really like $200,000 for doing nothing.
LMFAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!
@ LaVerne: I would be ashamed to prostitute my faith that way, not to mention scorn to cheat Bermudians so. I would like you to clarify why you put inverted commas around my earned designation of pastor. Also since a proportion of my friends include gays and lesbians, they wouldn’t ‘feel the love’ here at all.
During my time working on tourisms front line I can’t count the number of times that I was told that what makes Bermuda special is what we do NOT have such as the fast food, the water parks etc that are found in every US blue collar seaside town.
I’ve heard that one also while watching bumper to cars full of Bermudians line up on a wednesday to get on the old base to eat mcdonalds. Also remember Burger Island our own take on fast food.
Then there were all the fun things that have now gone like a full on dolphin show that by far trumps dolphin quest, a parrot show caravan at lemington caves, hawkins island cruises & the arcade/pool hall that used to be beside in the location of docksiders bar to mention a few.
I agree that Bermuda should still keep its natural beauty but there are areas that were developed on already that can be used now that nothing is happening on them. Somewhere along the line DOT decided Bermuda had to become stock up & boring which only attracts one type of visitor. Maybe the type of visitor it attracts has more money than the rest but it doesn’t mean they want to spend $200 a night to have the same amenities as a holiday inn. If the fun level here is not kicked up a notch all we have is an overpriced island with only beaches & overpriced water sports to market.
Ms Furbert has a very good point. I personally think that Pastor Syl would be an excellent candidate for running a “Faith Based Tourism” Initiative. But just to be sure though, and in the interest of openness and transparency, could Ms. Furbert please provide us with a list of the criteria that was used to select the last person chosen to run a “Faith Base Tourism Initiative” and summarize his success – or failure.
Blah blah blah, and round she goes, when dull ideas stop, nobody knows.
You killed tourism with the anti business anti white campaign of the 1990-2012
and now somehow expect them to forgive and forget?
Not gonna happen. Anti foreigner attitudes from the entitled on a daily basis have sealed our fate.
A nation of comfortable cowards that let a certain friend of yours wring us dry.
We get what we deserve. Bring up the truth and watch everyone’s eyes glaze over, oh no not us, we’re special, nothing disastrous could happen, oh stop being so pessimistic, look what the UBP did
last century, slavery, bad white people, bad. Only when this race based generation have died off will the Island have a chance to rebound. I have great faith in the educated under 30′s versus those whose record is stuck in the 1968 groove.
You did a terrible Job. Civil servant or not. Therefore the people want you gone and want a new fresh face to tourism. Why is this so difficult for some Bermudians to get through their thick, spoilt heads? Government is a business and if you dont produce as one of the 65000 sharleholders i call that you be replaced. Get over it, oh theirs no other jobs out there? your problem not myn maybe you can live off your 6 figure paychecks for a while.