Three Cheers For The Doctor
The PLP may not have much to show for its five years in Government, but just recently Transport Minister Dr. Ewart Brown seems to have been working overtime to tackle one of the biggest problems facing Bermuda's ailing tourism industry: the high cost of air fares to the Island. He deserves considerable praise for the success he has achieved.
In June last year US Airways began operating a new flight to Florida, then just last month a new flight to Chicago was announced which has already helped push down some fares on that route. Then yesterday it was announced that in May, budget airline USA 3000 is to begin operating two flights a week to Baltimore - for just $168 return. A quick search on Expedia reveals that the big carriers are currently charging at least $600 on this route.
Dr. Brown's zeal in pursuing these deals with the airlines, and his success in closing them, is to be heartily congratulated.
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Sir:
I am sorry to hear that Bermuda's tourism industry is ailing, but I am not surprised based on my last visit to the island.
I love Bermuda and have spent quite a bit of time there over the years. But I cannot easily visit any more because 100LL Avgas is no longer available on the island. I operate a piston-engine aircraft, and Bermuda would be an easy trip for me, except that it is no longer possible to get fuel on the island. Presently only jet fuel is available for sale. I think if the fixed-base operator at the airport were to maintain a supply of avgas, more private pilots would visit the island. This wouldn't make a huge difference in the overall tourism industry, but it would help.
Posted by CW on 02.03.04 at 23:22
Tourism is dead in Bermuda.....UNTIL Government steps out of the way with all their RED TAPE. Tourism must be privatized, Casinos allowed to opeerate in Resort Hotels, Beaches have bars & Entertainment and goodf facilities, and that in order to have a 200 room hotel or more that MAJOR ENTERTAINMENT with Casinos must be provided to guests.
Bermuda's charming cottage colonies can stay as they are for the people that like the OLD Bermuda....BUT I gotta say Ewart Brown may have spent the taxpayers money and looked good with fast ferries and a new bus terminal but he will have EGG on his face with Tourism because he cannot get it done at Tourism.
Posted by Tony B on 13.09.05 at 08:33
Tony,
Casinos are not the panacea to Tourism in Bermuda. I do not disagree that Bermuda should have a casino but every hotel that has 200 rooms should have a casino? I think that is a bit much. If Bermuda is going to have a casino it should be in conjunction with one of the major players in the industry.
You are correct, in my view, that the days of live Bermudian entertainment need to return and there need to be changes at the beaches.
The biggest problem I see regarding tourism in Bermuda, outside of the cost, is that there is a lack of things for the tourists to do. After a round of golf, or a day of diving, or a day on the beach there is nothing in the evenings.
I don't disagree that the Department of Tourism can be contracted out to a private entity.
I disagree, however, with you putting the blame on Ewart Brown. The government should only provide the means for an industry to exist. That is, regular schedule flights, a legislative framework to support the industry, marketing of the country, etc. Putting everything into practice must be handled by the private sector. As has been mentioned on this site many times, service is not something we can stand up and shout about in Bermuda. In order to be a quality destination you must have quality customer service, first and foremost.
Posted by Guilden M. Gilbert, Jr. on 13.09.05 at 09:08
Well said Mr Bahamas !
Guilden:
It is not about the UBP or PLP it is about making Tourism work....
The Government Structure here, is full of RED TAPE, and we also pander to the church vote.
Churches, praying to GOD etc will not fix Bermuda Tourism....All the churches do is make people who go to them feel good, whilst the reverends ask for cash to keep them in the manner to which they have become accostumed. Anyway SINCE I am a BILL MAHER fan, say no more, as that will explain to all that I have no time for RELIGION.
Separation of Church and State is a must for a country to survive.....but Bermuda it isd so wrapped up in the churches that we are BOXED IN, unable to do what is right for Bermuda Tourism
People need to get real and work it out on the basics....
PROVIDE what the customer wants....
It is that simple....
But Government get in the way. POLICE what we can and cannot do.....
In the MED Nudity is cool.....so are casinos....the service is great.....etc
In Bermuda we have every Government DEPT from Tourism, Planning, Immigration, Health Dept...that put up hurdles that take weeks or months to overcome just to get into business.....
NO WONDER there is no new Investment Capital here.....in Hotels....
Morgans Point still sits empty, Club Med becomes a worse eyesore by the day.
I find it curious that a White South African Jew, was the one that revived the image of the BAHAMAS in terms of tourism ? ATLANTIS.....
Maybe we need to get him here in Bermuda....
But as Sol Kerzner told your Government ...I will do it under my terms.....and guess what.... the whole of the Bahamas benefited when that boat got refloated....
SO Bermuda...."Whatcha Gonna DO"
Posted by Tony B on 13.09.05 at 09:24
Tony,
Surely the answer is to privatise Tourism.
Tourism is a business big business, and governments world wide are clueless about business as they have a civil service mentality and as all know civil service does not have to relay on making a profit to remain in business.
If it did most would have dissapeared already !
Governments dont make money they spend money our money as they have none of their own.
The most constructive thing governments can do is to step aside and allow business to flourish in the competent hands of qualified businessmen.
Their role is to maintain a suitable environment ie controlled crime a clean environment a regulated judiciary and well paid civil servants enabled to actually collect taxes and fines imposed by the courts etc.and a health and welfare system that works.
Avordable rental units to house the hotel workers who do not earn big bucks etc.
Sol Kerzner was successful in Sun City in SA because of the abundant cheap labour but it would be interesting to know how he is successful in the Bahamas as there is not so much cheap labour there and none here at all.
Posted by Bill Cook on 13.09.05 at 10:14
Bill,
Sol Kerzner is successful in the Bahamas because he is effectively in partnership with the Bahamas Government. Labour is not cheap here but he has created a resort for which people are willing to pay top dollar (from $250.00 a night on the low end, depending on the season, all the way up to $25,000 per night) due to the amenities and the level of service offered.
The hotel operates at about 90% occupancy year-round.
Sol spent millions of dollars in customer service courses for his 6,000 staff members. Every member of staff, before they ever greet a guest has undergone hours of customer service training and the importance of customer service for the success of the resort.
I do not think you have to be a low cost provider (to a degree) in order to be successful. If you are going to be on the higher end, however, you have to provide what the guests want - service on demand and amenities.
Kernzer International recently opened the Marina Village, shops and restaurants that wrap around the mega yacht bays.
It doesn't hurt that celebrities have chosen the Bahamas as their playground either. Where celebrities go there to go the the fans, the general public. Just the other night we bumped into Arnold Swartzenegger and his wife and then another night there was Patrick Ewing and his family. On any given visit to Atlantis you are bound to run into a celebrity or two.
With the redevelopment of the Ocean Club Golf Course, Sol has been able to attractive residents such as Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Oprah Winfrey, Barry Bonds and Ernie Els as the PGA touring pro for the course. Also the golf course for 3 years hosted the Father/Son Challenge and it has also become the home of the Michael Jordan Celebrity Tournament.
Sol as created a place that people feel they HAVE to visit.
Posted by Guilden M. Gilbert, Jr. on 13.09.05 at 10:36
So well said Guilden:
So in Bermuda we have Morgan's Point.....
Left empty by the US Military....
The clean up deal was totally mis-handled by the PLP according to my pal Lawyer Julian Hall... The British would have cleaned it up according to him but no the PLP thought they knew better in how to negotiate.....
They have shown they are almost incapable of closing any deals
So we have NADA at Morgans Point...when we could have had ATLANTIS NORTH by now !!
Michael Douglas....Now we cannot get more famous than that....offered ( more than a year ago) to make introductions to the Bermuda Government to his pals Sol Kezner, Donald Trump and possibly Steve Wynn from Vegas.....
Only if the Government were serious....
What I got Guilden was, via my connection to Government, that they (PLP PREMIER/CABINET)would only be interested in talking to any of these parties as long as THEY understood that certain Black Government and Business leaders had to be involved in the deal.....
WELL I was so taken aback that I did not even take it further with Michael Douglas as that would have been an utter embarrassment to him...
The Bermuda Government are here to serve the people of Bermuda....NOT put their greedy hands in the pockets of the public purse....and dictate how a deal will go down that benefits some of them
How dare anyone in Government put out such a caveat for talks ????
It is time to take the gloves off...as Bermuda is sinking under the Government control of Tourism.
Tony B
Posted by Tony B on 13.09.05 at 10:59
Guilden,
You left out Sean Connery who re located from Marbella in Spain where he had lived for so long to the Bahamas.
We have certain disadvantages location ways here and our size would limit us too but we could tailor to that.
I am really surprised that no one has done a study on the Bahamas casino operation from Bermuda.
I think you are right when you say that wealthy people will pay big bucks if they are catered to, but even if you have big bucks here you are not catered to in my opinion.
While I think casinos or one really good one would be good for us we would need to guarentee that service aspect prior to embarking on having one.
I went on a private tour of the casino in Monte Carlo which was a slick operation and was surprised to learn that the big money made was from slot machines, less glamorous than the tables we usually associate with MC.
Posted by Bill Cook on 13.09.05 at 11:37
Connie Engelhardt who ran the Inverurie Hotel way back used to tell me that when he ran the Officers Club in Hawaii back in the 40's...that the slot machines made a fortune for the military....
He used to tell anyone here that would listen to him what $$$$$ could be made.
It is no secret that they (SLOTS) still make the lions share everywhere.....
In Bermuda we had the "Machines" untaxed by the PLP...and they in the end made them illegal.....
If Mississippi made 1/2 million dollars a day in TAXES for the state...then Bermuda is missing out 2 ways...
WE ARE NOT GIVING THE VISITOR THE CHOICE THEY WANT
and secondly we are losing millions in potential tax revenue because our holier than thou Premier defers to the churches over Casinos !!!
CHURCH & STATE should be separated here once and for all.
The CRUISE SHIPS all have them ...and they come in full week after week....
Ask any hotelier what his occupancy rate is this week ????
As my pal Julian Hall says....
In Bermuda ...the inmates run the Asylum !
He , like me, say Bermuda is DEAD, BORING (Allbeit Beautiful).
I saw Rolf Commissiong in the gym yesterday....who boldly told me " Bermuda Tourism will gain as a result of KATRINA"...Poor boy has really lost his marbles.
Anyway.....I suspect that in 5 years all be be "MUCH THE SAME" under the failed PLP Tourism leadership.
Unless there is a REVOLT at the polls....and Brothers & Sisters I feel a REVOLT coming just like I know the sun will go down today, Bermuda will sail into the Tourism Abyss never to return.
RISE UP fellow Bermudians and say ENOUGH is ENOUGH.
Tony B
Posted by Tony B on 13.09.05 at 12:08
Big Eats,should also have known that there was a flourishing slots casino right here at the US bases esp at Kindley and while I had a permanent pass I find gambling boring but not the food or the Cinemas or the duty free!!
An enterprising Sol type could have leased the base land for 99 yrs and put up a big casino free from all local interference, as a free port maybe thats a possibility still.
The churches could come up for bingo sessions God approves them.
Posted by Bill Cook on 13.09.05 at 12:38
Tony,
"The Bermuda Government are here to serve the people of Bermuda....NOT put their greedy hands in the pockets of the public purse....and dictate how a deal will go down that benefits some of them"
Very well said. Public service is just that. Too many polticians forget they are servants of the people and the betterment of the people comes first.
Bill,
"I am really surprised that no one has done a study on the Bahamas casino operation from Bermuda."
This has not been done because the Bahamas is frowned upon by many in Bermuda as they believe Bermuda is better and cannot learn anything from the Bahamas. The sad part is most people who think this way have never been to the Bahamas so they really have no idea of what it is and what it isn't.
Bermudians needs to get off thei high horse and understand that many of their neighbours to the south are not the banana republics they think they are.
The Bahamas, while largely reliant on tourism, has a very diversified economy and this diversitification was proven after 9/11 caused a drop off in tourist arrivals. There is a healthy offshore banking and trust environment, mutual fund administration is a big growth area, sitting on one of the world's largest barrier reefs the Bahamas is a major exporter of sea food, especially lobster. The next time you are in Red Lobster and you get a lobster tail, chances are it is from the waters of the Bahamas. The Bahamas has an extensive ships registry, the next time you see a cruise ship in Bermuda note the Nassau, Bahamas registration. The second home market is very big in the Bahamas. There are probably more second homes here than there are homes in the entire Bermuda market.
With regard to Sean Connery, he nearly hit me with his golf cart outside the pro-shop of the Lyford Cay Golf Club. When he apologised you could just imagine him saying, "Bond, James Bond" :)
Posted by Guilden M. Gilbert, Jr. on 13.09.05 at 12:43
I think it's another one of those strategies the government are using to avoid getting re-elected next time around as Limey was suggesting in his controversial article a couple of weeks ago. If they did all those things Tony B is suggesting they might have a success on their hands!
If they continue to implement appallingly bad or inept strategies in this major area of our economy how can they fail to lose?
Posted by JJ on 13.09.05 at 13:20
Guilden,
No one should be too full of pride false or otherwise to ask for advise from a successful source which the Bahamas obviously is with its casinos.
I agree we Bermudians are a bit pompous but we were "Cock of the Walk" for so long.
We have become a boring concrete jungle with no entertainment like the old days, when we were spoiled rotten.
A night out at the Ham Princess dinner and a show was top quality both food and entertainment silver service the lot and the likes of the THREE DEGREES , TOM JONES etc
in a lovely night club boy do I miss that plus the 40 T.
We in my op. need a casino to be able to return some of that and we should be down there studying how you guys are doing it.
Was not aware that you exported all those lobsters I knew you had a lot of conch etc.
Any way if you bump into Big Tom, Sean's real name ask him why as a proud nationalist he accepted a knighthood !!
He and I share a connection and a web site, honestly!
Posted by Bill Cook on 13.09.05 at 13:23
cookbillcook.com
bigtomandthecook.com
cookandconnery.com
bcook007.com
OK I give up....what's the web-site Bill.
Posted by SmokingGun on 13.09.05 at 13:29
Bill,
Its funny you say that about Tom, I mean Sean, because he has been very outspoken about his support for Scotish Independence.
A conversation about knighthoods, etc. is another topic. I will say though that I do not support Lois Brown-Evans and Jennifer Smith in their acceptance of Dame when they are very much pro-Independence.
Posted by Guilden M. Gilbert, Jr. on 13.09.05 at 13:36
Bill, how's about
Classicbodybuilders.com.....
Posted by SmokingGun on 13.09.05 at 13:52
Smokey
Some bastard outed me and Sean, because you did not know not the same bastard who outed Will Mac ? oh ok just asking.
My partner in the Tam O'Shanter was Sean's landlord and Sean to pay the rent modelled for a Carnaby St boutique so did another poster on this blog in fact.
Posted by Bill Cook on 13.09.05 at 14:46
Guilden,
They were all DUCHESSED.
Royalty do that knowing how vain people are they offer them sanctuary into the circle.
They are DUCHESSED.
But big Tom was a real strong guy that was a bitter blow, what in Gods name was he thinking ?
Posted by Bill Cook on 13.09.05 at 14:52
Bill, you got "googled". ;)
Hilarious, and impressive, photos of a young Sean Connery from Edinburgh and a young Bill Cook from Belfast.
Now I know where Arnold got his acting bug....
You must have had some serious fun back in the day.
Posted by SmokingGun on 13.09.05 at 14:57
Smoke,
The fun was listening to Sean, Tom then,trying to lose his Scottish accent, he never succeeded !
Playing an Arab Sheikh
YE tak the hey rode an ahll tak tha low rode an ahhl be in Mecca afore ya !
I knew Arnie when he was 19.
Posted by Bill Cook on 13.09.05 at 15:06
Bill,
Great pics...I just voted for you buddy !!
How the hell did you end up in Bermuda ?? what with the sucessful body building/modelling career going for you, it seems surprising you end up here.
There must be a couple of Bill Cooks on the island....either that or THE Bill Cook will never cease to amaze me
Posted by Two Cents on 13.09.05 at 17:43
How about Sir Lyndon Pindling Guilden?
He both supported independence (and took his country independent) and took a Knighthood.
Posted by jake on 13.09.05 at 18:16
Two Cents,
Thanks pal,
Its a long story,one day over a drink maybe.
Posted by Bill Cook on 13.09.05 at 19:34