Too Much Of A Secret
The cheap airfares now available to Bermuda from the US are being publicised in an article circulating in the American media.
The Associated Press story has been published in newspapers including the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the San Diego North County Times. It mentions Tourism Minister Dr. Ewart Brown's recent trip to New York, during which he said that people may be unaware how cheap flights to the Island have become. "Bermuda is too much of a secret," he said.
So much of a secret, in fact, that even the article's author was misinformed about what the Island has to offer. The story cites one of Bermuda's unique attractions as "a perfume factory, open for tours". In fact the Perfumery closed last year.
Perhaps the journalist shouldn't get all the blame, however. The Department of Tourism's website still includes the Perfumery on its list of attractions and worse still, the Perfumery's own site contains no mention that it has now closed. Time for an update, perhaps?
Update: The gardens of the Perfumery are now closed, but the Perfumery itself is still running out of a temporary location in St. David's. No tours are available, however a retail outlet will be opened in St. George's in the spring and then people will again be able to see how the perfume is manufactured.
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The fares are cheap because there are no tourists coming. No secret to that.
Happy new year!
Posted by Tiger Bay on 02.01.05 at 19:14
I just got a call from a friend who wanted to take his wife away for a 3 night trip from Boston to Bermuda to celebrate their anniversary. We did the math. Just the air fare is over $700.00 each. A decent room will be $175/night minimum. Moped + gas $250? Food & Beverages $250/day. (Including grats, taxes, fees etc.)
Based on departure times they would get to the hotel around 2 pm local time and have to leave the hotel around 10 am local time. This gives them 68 hours of time in Bermuda.
So for roughly $3000 for the trip they will spend approx. $44/hr. If they get their 8 hrs a night beauty sleep that will cost them $1056 alone.
Man it's getting hard to sell my friends on going to Bermuda.
Posted by SmokingGun on 25.07.05 at 21:56
Smoking...
I know I just got a price-break, but compared with $356 a ticket BDA to Las Vegas, then your $700 is pure fantasy!
You know, I pick up from the airport fairly often (business) and the number of flights that come in from Boston, NY, Phily with 35 or 48 or 62 people is amazing.
And guess who pays?
Posted by Martin on 25.07.05 at 22:05
Martin,
Vegas is where they're going. It's a lot longer to get there but the time zones work. They can catch a flight at 6 pm and get in around 9 or 10. Time for a late dinner/gambling. They catch a red eye back and sleep on the plane. Air & Hotel for $1000 at MGM Grand.
Tough to compete.
PS: Have a lucky trip!
Posted by SmokingGun on 25.07.05 at 22:17
There are great similarities between Bermuda and the Isle of Man where I now live. The cost to get to and from is always a sticking point. Last weekend I took my wife to Dublin for the day/night for her birthday. Flying time is 25 minutes, you can almost see it! Total cost for the 27 hours we were there (air, food, ground transport etc.) was roughly USD 1100. In addition to that is my wife's shopping bill which I dread to think about. Quite comparable really.
The thing is these are the little trips that are the times of our lives. The things that we will remember for the rest of our days. You cannot put a price on that.
Posted by Bandit on 26.07.05 at 05:50
I flew in recently on a Tuesday morning, the Delta flight from Boston. There were only about 50 people on the plane. Waited in line at Immigration for 35 minutes (down from 45 minutes the last time), plus more at Customs. The ticket for a tourist from Boston is close to $700, with not much choice.
Posted by Raptor on 26.07.05 at 08:39