Opinion: John Holdipp On Why BTA “Will Fail”

[Opinion column written by John H. Holdipp III] The purpose of inventing a variety of teams to herald in so-called new wheels of direction, is simply to position any chance of failure as the responsibility of others and not that of the elected officials.

Tourism Minister Shawn Crockwell and former Attorney General Mark Pettingill spent tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars visiting Singapore to justify the implementation of casino tourism. The underlying truth is they used Singapore as the key example that we should follow.

They however did not tell the population of Bermuda the whole truth in terms of why this ideal of tourism works so well in that region. Allow me to explain, in that region of the world, casinos and gaming have been an integral direction of that region for more than a century.

Further truth is within a two hour airplane ride, there are potential subscribers and tourist who enjoy that atmosphere. A five hour flight from almost any direction there are more people living then the remainder of the entire world population.

This is the truth of why casinos or gaming is so successful in that region and such a dire failure in this hemisphere.

There is another key reason why the Bermuda Tourism Authority will fail in its goal. The Bermuda Tourism Authority is defining its direction based on the ideals of those who are directly involved or linked to the International Business arena. Business Investing formats are the foundation of those involved in this phase of life, it cannot be the defining ideals of successful tourism.

In Bermuda the final nail in our coffin is about to begin. We foolishly sit on the side as this government strips the people of this country of land that is vital to our success, and creates another exclusive area to that of Tuckers Town. Many Bermudians cannot visit that area anymore, yet we quietly allow the OBA government to do what their former UBP government ancestry did decades back. Allowing this to happen up at Morgan’s Point in Southampton will create extreme hardship both now and for all generations to come.

Certainly it will create construction employment in the near future, but after that the barriers and fences will be put in place to lock Bermudians out of that space permanently. That land space is the only tool that will give us a chance to improve our lot. It can be used to create year round bustling activity for Bermudian generations and at the same time generate the ultra investors that we desire. The truth is we will not have to sign over this property to anyone for two hundred years. The side effect will be investment coming into Bermuda to build as many hotels as we desire. We can guarantee full fledged work for every Bermudian, no matter the education, skills or lack thereof. Every facet of life in Bermuda will improve.

Since the Bermuda Tourism Authority evolution is not geared to achieving these types of results, they will fail. This is not a myth, this is a fact. I warn you, we need to nip stop this now, or continue to see our island home as a part of successful history, what used to be.

John H. Holdipp III

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