it was Russell Coutts, the former helmsman for Oracle who first suggested that Bermuda bid for the Cup. the BTA’s involvement in the AC was AFTER the fact, when they were chosen by Dr. Grant Gibbons to form the bid team. for the BTA to attempt to credit themselves for the success of the AC is just plain disingenuous.

Well this is what the commercial commissioner of the America’s Cup said:

“The Bermuda Tourism Authority’s strength as a sales and marketing organisation was evident during the bid process and its efforts were a significant contributing factor to Bermuda coming out on top,” said Harvey Schiller, Commercial Commissioner of the America’s Cup. – August 6, 2015.

You decide if you want to take the word of the politician or the commissioner.

The Premier added, “It is a great opportunity to showcase Bermuda on the world stage – our people, our island, our rich maritime heritage, our way of life.

“I want to commend the work of the bid team put together by Dr. Grant Gibbons, the Minister of Education and Economic Development. They worked fast and hard to put together an impressive bid document in a short period of time. Their work will continue as we continue to pursue this remarkable opportunity.”

Representatives of the America’s Cup Event Authority visited the Island in March to inspect possible event locations and racecourses in The Great Sound.

Following the invitation to bid for the race, Dr. Gibbons organized a small bid team with representatives from the private sector, the Bermuda Government and the Bermuda Tourism Authority…”

do you still think the idea came from the BTA?

either i didn’t make the point clearly or it was missed. the creation of the BTA was a good thing. the bad thing is that in the course of nearly eighteen months the only event that has brought Bermuda to the attention worldwide is one that was brokered by Dr. Grant Gibbons. the America’s Cup. the BTA has done nothing but piggy back on the AC and to date followed up on the leads by scheduling additional races and created sailing calendars.

the director needs to let it go, delegate that ongoing AC project to a competent associate and focus on the NEXT BIG thing. what about organizing a Tour de France stage right here? how about breaking into the prestigious horse racing circuit – isn’t that part of our Bermuda Heritage? the Isle of Man has TT weeks – motorcycle racing – surely we can do something similar. these are mere suggestions but i’m sure the director hanbury can do better…

Ironically Tucker Murphy representing us in the winter olympics is also great value because of the unusual (cool runnings) aspect of a Bermudian skiier.

For a tiny place we have some banging footballers. Everyone who gets to represent Bermuda in anything is putting us on the map and should be supported.

There is a summarised analysis of the BTA’s ROI in its first nine months of operation (2014) here: http://www.gotobermuda.com/uploadedFiles/Bermuda_Tourism_Authority/Content/bermudatourism/Tourism_Forward/TourismForward-ROI.pdf
It includes a helpful comparison to past years’ ROI.

The Annual Report you call for is here, published annually as required legislatively: http://annualreport.bermudatourism.com.
Bernews also reported about the Annual Report when it was published.

The fact remains that the BTA are all over the sailing as if that is the only jewel in the tiara. I am afraid that when the sailing events are exhausted we shall be in the same position we were before Dr. Grant pulled off the AC35.

Hanbury needs to bring something of substance already. The latest BTA advertising offering is damn right amateurish and embarrassing…”Brenda”…wtf???

I have nothing against sailing, as my family has a history of sailing and I’ve sailed myself, but how many young men/women have obtained scholarships from sailing?

I’ll wait for your response.

I keep seeing him clinging to the sailing which will culminate in 2017 so what great events or initiatives does he propose for the future post 2017? Or is he waiting for Dr Grant to do the heavy lifting so that he can piggy back of it.
So not impressed with BTA under his leadership. Here we have someone in the BTA who has attained some accreditation, how is that being utilized to help Bermuda? In short BTA need to do their own work because they sure as hell are paid decently for it.

Sailing, for its part, probably warrants more attention anyway.

Invest where we get results.