Hotels do not put the rates high to keep people from coming to them. This is what it costs to operate a hotel in Bermuda. Sure we can make hotel room rates cheaper, that means that the industry with that has the second largest number of employees would have to cut the wages of every single person in order to do that. This would effect everyone, less spending in grocery stores, less taxes, I could go on but you get the point. Bermuda is an expensive place to live and thus price of labour is high and so is everything else. Therefore the prices reflect the cost.

Yeah sure Mexico has better rates and what could be seen as better service, but hey don’t drink the water, don’t go into the towns or leave the resort. There are greater incidences of tourist crimes, kidnappings, murders. There are also people begging for your every dollar. Bermuda does not have that and you pay the premium for that. Just like your house, you pay more for a house that has view, in a nice neighborhood, like a gated community. Bermuda is the worlds Gated community and it is more expensive because of it. There are people that want what we have and I think that the BTA is in the midst or aligning their marketing to attract these people. To discuss price is silly, there is absolutely nothing we can do about it, unless you want to talk to the unions to reduce pay or reduce number of staff needed.

How about we provide value, we up our game, we provide better service and show why we are the best destination in the world. We can do it, we have to!

OBA, PLP, does not matter who is in power…..bottom line is BDA government controlled by civil servants and vested interest business class who simply can’t bare the thought of cutting spending and getting to a smaller sustainable government. Hurts their pockets….so we keep borrowing.

No growth no time soon. Many re-insurance companies will go out of business next year or soon their after as too much capital at too low rates is a disaster for the industry. unemployment still too high for the economy to grow. Birth rate has collapsed pushing population growth rate to near zero. Disaster for economic growth potential.

America’s cup will amount to 3 months of economic activity….hardly enough to move the needle on a $4.5 billion economy. Governments tax take will be small….not enough to pay interest for one year! OBA too afraid to ask HSBC to move on and let the the economy refloat….and ….too afraid of independence to move the country forward. Final nail in coffin is CUBA. Americans will floc there in droves….killing whats left of Bermuda and Bahamas tourism. BTA is a scam…resurecting same strategies that were in place for the last 25 years is not genius. I want my money back Bill…you sir are over paid!!

I have a better idea….lets fire 1,000 civil servants, 333 per year for next 3 years. Lets raise taxes – all categories. Let’s roll back civil service pensions and health care benefits and let raise standards in public school by one grades curricular across the 12 year spectrum (i.e. what we teach in P-two would now be taught in P-One!)

Finally let’s release Town of St. George from being a dead museum stuck in the 1940′s and raze it COMPLETELY and build a brand new town with new residences and commercial real-estate developments. Bermuda’s current ruling elite very weak-minded and non-competitive!

One thing that we did do right was keep McDonalds & the rest of the fast food out. Well…with the exception of KFC, but that is up Queen St where few visitors go.

What is special is what Bermuda does not have, fast food being one thing, no vendors hassling people on the beach for trinkets another.

Bill Hanbury 2015: we’re no longer going to be seasonal in our approach to tourism; during the Nov to March period we’ll do sports, emphasise golf, history and culture. RESPONSE: ooh, ahhhh, all hail great sage from beyond the seas; where would we be without you to save us.

Go figure…..

Everyone has their own theory, so why has none of the investments worked? People only pay what they can afford that’s why. This is not rocket science it’s simple 101 math freshmen

Back in the ‘hey day’, we had lots of students coming, there were vibrant parties every night, lacrosse tournaments, all sorts of games and parities on the beach….yes, they often wrecked hotel rooms and caused disturbances, but these students later returned as high income working professionals.

We turned our nose to them, acted as if we didn’t need their business, College Weeks/Spring Break was beneath our high class jurisdiction…..now we are suffering the consequences.

uh, it was in the 40′s

The price, alone, is not a deterrent as people will pay more….but they also expect more. Our problem is not the price, rather we do not provide the expected level of service. Nor do we provide the entertainment options as other destinations.

Also why do we constantly tout our proximity to the US as an advantage over our Caribbean competitors? The days of arriving at an airport 45 minutes before flight departure and being whisked through security are over. These days, you need to arrive hours before your flight; so does it really matter if the actual flight is 2 hours when half of your day is reserved for travelling anyway? People are not choosing the 2 hour flight to Bermuda over the 4 hour flight somewhere else.

Hotel in Bermuda with no food or drinks $350 PLUS +

Anyone, anyone?

I just gave you the answer to Bermuda’s Tourism problems for free.
What many people already know but refuse to tell the truth about.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhiCFdWeQfA