BTA CEO On Impact Of Travel Authorization Form
“We are working with the Ministry of Health to redefine and redesign the travel authorization, hopefully, to make it easier and simpler for everyone,” Bermuda Tourism Authority CEO Charles Jeffers II said.
This was from Mr Jeffers during a live BNV interview where he answered some reader questions, with two pertaining to aspects surrounding the impact of the travel authorization on tourism.
Premier David Burt previously said the travel authorization will be in use until at least April of next year, however the Government is aware people have concerns about it, and they are having discussions about “simplifying the process,” as they look to how we can “reduce the restrictions at the border and adopt the position of living with the coronavirus.”
Extract from the BNV Interview with these two reader questions
Reader Question: ”How can tourism flourish when we have a TA and Safekey that is useless and is simply discouraging visitors?”
Response from Bermuda Tourism Authority CEO Charles Jeffers II: “That’s a good question, because one of the things that we’ve heard from the airlines industry and from visitors, is that the TA and, really, the whole testing regime has been a hindrance.
“We’ve also heard from some people that the Safekey is hard to understand and a little bit confusing for them, so I’d be lying if I sat here and said that it’s helped. It hasn’t. But we are very optimistic that the government will be making changes very soon, or announcing they’ll be making changes very soon.”
Reader Question: “Is the BTA pleading with government to drop the pre-arrival test and the TA for all incoming vaccinated travelers?”
Response from BTA CEO Charles Jeffers II: “We’re talking to the government on a regular basis about everything related to travelers, and yes, we are talking to them about the TA and what that means for visitors.
“We are working with the Ministry of Health to redefine and redesign the travel authorization, hopefully, to make it easier and simpler for everyone, because it’s basically the same TA for residents as well. I travel, and when I come back, it’s always a challenge to fill that out, and so, I would love to make it a lot easier, not only for our visitors, but for Bermuda’s residents as well.”
The full BNV Interview with the BTA CEO
You can find more information on the links below from our dedicated website BermudaCovid.com, which is the most comprehensive resource and historic record available of Bermuda’s handling of the pandemic.
- All Charts: Vaccine, testing & more here
- Timelines: Dates of major developments here
- Test results: Chart of testing stats here
- Vaccine: Data covering vaccinations here
- Dedicated website: BermudaCovid.com
Thank you Mr. Jeffers, and Bernews for the response to my question.
Making it “easier” isn’t going to cut it unfortunately. If there is some contractual arrangement with the developer(s) of these systems, pay them out and recover the loss from the taxes all the tourist pay and which are collected and remitted to government by hotels and guesthouses. Government will then start to recover even more funds through payroll tax etc relating to the employees they will need to hire. Hotels cannot hire people under the current conditions, they need revenue to cover that cost.
Seriously, we need to get out of the mindset of fear and start getting back to normal. Not a “new normal”: NORMAL.
Just to add: We are in danger of seeing the 2022 Tourist Season be a similar nightmare for hotels as 2020 and 2021 have been. Three years of losses. People are thinking about booking vacations NOW.
The TA clearly doesn’t work to keep Bermuda covid free, every single press announcement claims that new cases are imported. Imported despite the rigorous testing and “permissions” they have to seek.
Safekey is seeing people who are not displaying any symptoms of covid walking into restaurants and removing their masks, when they could easily be infected and creating the “local transmissions” that we continue to see, while those who have HAD covid and obviously have anti bodies and who do not want to take the vaccine branded as virtual criminals.
He sure danced around those questions didn’t he. He knows who is buttering hi bread & wants to keep it well smothered.
Meanwhile the whole hospitality industry is imploding because of TAFs & the ridiculous safe key.
Just returned from an eleven island cruise around the Caribbean: all islands doing well: most having three ships at the port, with reduced passenger numbers but still their tourism economies are doing well. The difference down south: no travel authorization forms and no extra fees to enter those islands. Presumably Burt has already signed a deal with his friend’s company to continue the TAF till April 2023. Surely Mr Pitcher has made enough money from this scheme? Scrap the TAF and we may have a 2022 tourism season. Why Burt would commit to April 2023 when things are so fluid is beyond me but he is the same man who gave $800,000 of ours to a con man from Atlanta!
First as taxpayers we need to know is there a contract to April 2023, the Government needs to be transparent. The TA does nothing but add more bureaucracy, more Government expense and works against the core initiative of the the Tourism Authority and Bermuda’s hospitality industry–attract visitors to Bermuda. Countries are opening up, our competitors are opening up. The TA does not stop Covid. We talk about our hospitality industry, yet we forget that our International business community are also frequent travelers, in addition to having clients visit Bermuda. This is impacting our International Companies. Why would you streamline something you do not need. Would we really miss it…. ask yourself? Come on Tourism Authority…you need to step it up a notch here.
If he is not pressing the government for travel restrictions to be removed, he is the wrong man for the job. We need to be back to normal, and things should by now be normal.
It would be great if residents didn’t have to fill out the same information every time – just want to be able to change flight details and upload tests. I shouldn’t have to tell you i’m vaccinated again.
I am hoping to travel with my family. We are fully vaxed and boosted and come from a low positive US state.
The additional costs of Travel authorization and potential to be forced to quarantine are a very big gamble to take. No other destination has such stringent standards.
Open the border and take my economy boosting dollars ! PLEASE
I Totally Agree! I Love to go to the US but HATE to Return to Bermuda. It is bad enough to be mandated to segregate all my Receipts/Purchases for Beloved and ever grateful CUSTOMS
*sigh* It’s why we have low “payroll tax”…get over it.
All that should be required to return to Bermuda is a negative test result. That TA is a lot of crap
I agree and can confirm that this is keeping IB business travelers from traveling. You know what’s less of an army maneuver and less expensive than coming to Bermuda right now? Dialing into ZOOM.
The TA must carry some serious financial benefits to some person(s). The Premier has said it will be used until April 2023 so it has nothing to do with stopping or controlling Covid. The hospitality industry needs to bang some sense into the BTA and Minister of Notourism before terminal damage is done to the tourist industry.
yes, I live in NY and will starting planning soon. We only travel to Bermuda but you are making it so confusing. Also I have tried to find out information on Elbow Beach ( as this is the only hotel we have stayed at for the past 20 years ) an no one wants to say anything. If the property if up for sale then say so. I don’t understand why this has been such a hush hush subject. It doesn’t say a lot about Bermuda if one of it biggest hotels don’t even care about there long time customers. ( who have spent thousands in you country. PLEASE make traveling easier or you will loose a lot of your tourism income. thank you Wendy Vandyke
Drop the TA all together, period. Its time.
Went there in June, it was actually depressing getting tested three times in a four day period. And you already have your flagship hotel at Elbow just sitting there and to top that off you got the Fairmont just wasting away. TIME TO GET WIT IT.