Press Release - Tourism Numbers SOAR!
As most of the Caribbean region struggles to gain ground in the tourism industry Bermuda shows continued double-digit percentage growth. Among seven Caribbean destinations considered to be comparable to Bermuda, five are showing consistently declining numbers while Bermuda's tourism numbers are surging upward.
Tourist Air Arrivals % increase/decrease:
Location JANUARY FEBRUARY MARCH
BERMUDA +24.8% +12.6% +17.9%
Bahamas -5.8% -8.2% -2.1%
Barbados -3.3% -4.7% *
British Virgin Islands +1.9% +1.1% *
Cayman Islands +17.7% +11.8% +11.6%
Jamaica -0.7% -4.0% -1.7%
Montserrat -2.9% -17.6% -9.2%
St. Lucia -13.2% -14.0% -4.5%
Source: Caribbean Tourism Organization
* Not available
The Premier said of the numbers: "We've obviously proud of the recent growth we've seen in our air and cruise arrivals. But now the hotel workers and taxi drivers and all the people who make our tourism product what it is have even more reason to hold their heads high because this undeniable surge in visitor numbers is coming at a time when our colleagues in the Caribbean are struggling. Bermuda's tourism is doing what very few others have been able to accomplish. This is no accident; this is the result of hard work."
One policy that's contributed to Bermuda's tourism boom is the Premier's work with airlines on an air services development strategy. This includes securing a number of new carriers and routes that are now serving Bermuda - including low cost carriers. Also important to Bermuda's tourism boom is government's marketing strategy.
Bermuda Hotels Association Chief Executive Officer John Harvey lauds government's successful tourism operation, the efforts of our business community and the spirit of our people which keeps tourists returning to our beautiful island. He notes, "Bermuda has been fortunate to have over the last several years a respected and enviable reputation as a first class tourist resort destination which has seen our repeat business as high as 60%. With the successful introduction of lower competitive airfares, the investment in hotel renovation and refurbishments and excellent food and beverage offerings, a renewed demand commenced in 2006 shortly after the Bermuda team presented our new marketing strategies to our tourism travel business partners in Boston, New York, and Philadelphia and that momentum combined with group business has kept us pretty busy, for which we are thankful.
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Are these really tourist
Are these really tourist arrivals or are they misrepresented air arrivals?
OMG - R U INSANE ONION!?
someone makes allegations about the plp and though the courts dismiss the allegations - the anti plp brigade still wants to believe it - on the other hand we have tourists data that show without a doubt that tourism is on the rise - but they won't believe that - we're done - as a cohesive country we are finished - if "de onion" is indicative of how white bda thinks then bda might as well start setting up our own west bank and gaza strip settlements - because what his refusal to give credit where credit is due says is that white bda will never be comfortable being governed by black people - we're done.
What, exactly, did my
What, exactly, did my question have to do with the courts? I was simply asking if the data actually represent what they say it does - which it didn't last quarter.
Also, who says I'm white?
Not everything is a criticism...
or an attempt to not give credit where credit is due. WIth the rise of international business any right-minded individual has a right to question what demographic makes up these figures. I agree that either way it's a good thing that more people are coming to Bermuda, but there are also matter of quality versus quantity. Are the millions of dollars we are pouring into attracting 'visiting tourists' (ie, NON BUSINESS travellers), paying dividends, or is the growth directly related to the business traveller. All very relevent when trying to quantify the numbers as well as identify specific areas of growth and those areas which Bermudian entrepreneurs may be interested in catering to.
Not every question is an exercise to take credit or second-guess the Government. Hell, the question is on the pink Immigration form, so one would assume that the Government are equally as interested (and able to quantify) the business traveller versus pure vacationer.
Visitors or Tourists... either way
Visitors or Tourists, either way its people from foreign lands spending money in Bermuda one way or another.
Do you people really love Bermuda? It makes me sick how quick some of you guys are to criticize any and every postive thing that occurs under the PLP government.
The fact of the matter is that more people are COMING to Bermuda.
Show me the money!
S. Brown.
The reason why Visitors or Tourists matters is because it's all about the money, not the number of tourists that come. Every extra tourist is one more that crowds our busses, congests our roads, consumes our electricity, pollutes our waters and adds to our mass of trash.
People visiting for pleasure spend more than those for business. Just as every air visitor spends about 6 times as much as every cruise visitor.
Maximizing the amount of money we get from tourism, not the overall number of visitors is what is important. Unless you just like extra pollution, waste, congestion and oh, tourists who are predominantly white and add to that anti-expat sentiment.
Denis
I understand your point in regards to tourists spend more than visitors, that is obvious. But even visitors spend money, even though it may not be as much as tourists, they are still spending money. For example, if one travels for business, more than likely they will stay at a hotel ($), more than likely at some point they may take a taxi ($), meals ($), bar ($$$). Even if they stay for 2 days its still ($) going into our economy.
If you come to Bermuda either way you will be spending ($), IMO no less than $1000. I find your arguement in terms of the resources used up by tourists very weak. Im sure if you take the cost of resources consumed by tourists/visitor against the money they spend here, Im sure there will be a profit.
I just dont understand some of you people, when arrival numbers are down you complain, when they increase you find something else to complain about.
The fact of the matter is money is coming into our economy when someone arrives in Bermuda... visitor or tourist.
I'm sorry you don't see it.
S. Brown,
Do you look at expats the same way? Every extra expat spends more money in our economy so why not get more and more?
The issue is that we are already overpopulated. More people is more strain. Take a look around at hotels and restaurants. Most of the people working there are not Bermudian. We build more hotels, more restaurants and bring in more ex-pats to serve these extra tourists.
Instead, what we should be doing is decreasing the number of tourists and trying to attract those that spend a great deal more money. That way Bermudians who do work in the industry have a chance at being paid higher wages and higher tips. When we're struggling to make a 30 cent profit on $5 trinkets made in China, I see it as a net loss.
"I just dont understand some of you people, when arrival numbers are down you complain, when they increase you find something else to complain about.
The fact of the matter is money is coming into our economy when someone arrives in Bermuda... visitor or tourist."
I really wish you could see it from the perspective of overall $$$ being added to our economy, not numbers of tourists.
Here are the estimates for visitor expenditure for 1998-2004 (all I could find after hours of hunting) - source: Caribbean Tourism Organization
Year - $US Millions
1998 - 486.8
1999 - 479.1
2000 - 431.0
2001 - 350.5
2002 - 378.8
2003 - 347.9
2004 - 353.7
Overall we have been in decline for $$ brought in.
If you want me to applaud tourism, then when the Ministry gives the following explanation I will give a standing ovation:
"Efforts to boost air arrivals have been successful for the first quarter resulting in a net increase. Business travellers have been increasing frequency of visits over the winter thanks to the lower cost airlines and have caused our traditional low season to start reaching for a high which is encouraging for future tourism development.
Due to new US passport regulations introduced in January, seasonal tourism numbers for April took a slight decline and we expect this decline to continue in the following months as Americans adjust to the new requirements.
Thankfully the US immigration office has reconsidered their passport policy and opted to delay the requirement until October. This means that while we may be facing a slight decline in the months of April, May and half of June, we should see a resurgence in late June, carrying through the summer for a good season overall.
The added delay should also hopefully give Americans time to adjust to the new requirements and we should expect another prosperous tourism season next year."
Is this a fair and honest review of the present tourism season?
Makes Cents...
Kudos for your post Denis...
Any information on the Dept. of Tourism budget? Are we effectively spending more to earn less?
As one who doesn't take anything at face value it's always nice to know the information behind the numbers.
Denis - the decline in $$$ could perhaps be at least partially explained by the fact that in spite of record number of cruisers coming to the island, the average cruise ship passengers spends $221 per person and these passengers accounted for a mere 11% of total tourist revenue.
So as you pointed out, yeah the numbers are up but the $$$ is down. Which is more important?
CO
Thanks.
Analysing the numbers is not easy and involves many factors.
I've compiled stats from as many sources as I can find going back to 1970 to give an accurate reflection of tourism and will be posting summaries on my blog http://www.21square.com that I invite you to read.
In the period of 1998 to 2004 the decline of annual air arrivals amount to 100k less. Comparatively the increase in cruise arrivals over that period was only about 18k. The bulk of the new cruise arrivals came in 2005 and 2006 which I am discounting because I don't have expenditure numbers for these (would be greatly appreciative if anyone could suggest a source).
Largely the decline can be attributed to the affects of 9/11 and Hurricane Fabian. 9/11 caused many Americans (our largest bracket of tourists) to opt to stay home. Fabian took a number of hotels out of commission and many of those rooms are still off the market
To substanciate this claim, here are the available room numbers per year from 1998-2004.
Year - Rooms
1998 - 3857
1999 - 3276
2000 -3339
2001 - 3337
2002 - 3251
2003 - 2073
2004 - 2939
Note the major decline in 2003. Beyond this, many hotels have been undertaking renovations since 1998 and some were closed down, causing a decline. Note the resurgence in 2004 as Fabian affected rooms came back online.
I may not see it because I am looking from another lens
I do not look at ex-pats the same way. Most ex-pats send majority of their wages to the country of origin so money is leaving Bermuda. We are overpopulated, but if people were to come to Bermuda I prefer it be more tourists as opposed to ex-pats because tourists tend to stay for short periods of time and do not eat up resources like permanent housing and vehicle ownership (I do not have anything against ex-pats though).
In regards to your statement of “building more hotels, more restaurants would require more ex-pats” will only happen if WE let it. What the premier is trying to do is show young Bermudians that the Hospitality/Tourism sector is ours for the taking. More Bermudians are needed in this sector. International business may not be around forever, and if they leave what are we left with? We should not put all our eggs in one basket. At one time our charm and our people was our selling point for tourism, its time to bring that back.
I do not understand your statement “we should be doing is decreasing the number of tourists and trying to attract those that spend a great deal more money” If you mean in regards to attracting more business travellers instead of tourists I disagree. Business travellers only come here for business, thus their activities (chances to spend money) are more restricted as opposed to a tourist who wants to come and enjoy his/herself.
From the stats you posted in regards to to visitor expenditure, I do see a decline, but from what I see 9/11 had a tremendous impact on those stats. Although they were on a slight decline pre-9/11 you can clearly see a huge drop at 2000/2001. After 2001it fluxuated and in 2004 it rose, and hopefully it continued to rise.
In regards to what you would want to see in order to commend tourism is your ideals on how a successful season would show... I respect your vision.
I believe that Bermuda has ways to go in the tourism industry (most countries in the Caribbean are having tourism difficulties), but we are making progress and I commend our government for putting in the effort and getting results.
Fair enough
A fair view S. Brown.
Remember that expats contribute in the form of spending locally along with payroll tax and social insurance - both of which they don't get back.
'I do not understand your statement “we should be doing is decreasing the number of tourists and trying to attract those that spend a great deal more money” If you mean in regards to attracting more business travellers instead of tourists I disagree. Business travellers only come here for business, thus their activities (chances to spend money) are more restricted as opposed to a tourist who wants to come and enjoy his/herself.'
My point is that we need to focus on business travellers in the winter because we cannot attract traditional tourists at this time. (The tourism ministry is doing this already inadvertently with dicount airlines).
What I was referring to by less tourists for more money is cruise. Cruise accounts for 1/6th of what an Air visitor spends. I'm also focusing on quality. Discount airlines do nothing for high end travellers. We need to bring prestige and exclusivity back to Bermuda tourism. People with money fret less over paying larger sums for better service, prestige, pampering and exclusivity.
Bermuda should not be a destination that competes on price with the rest of the caribbean. We cannot win this game. We need to compete on quality and exclusivity. Bermuda should be as much of a status symbol as a benz or luis vitton. People want to be able to say "I went to Bermuda for my vacation" and wow people because regular joe blows can't afford it. It's like having a VIP room. If everyone is able to enter it, what makes it VIP? Bermuda should be a VIP tourist destination.
One traveller who spends 10,000 on his trip here is the equivalent of 50 regular cruise visitors. Yet what happens is that when the cruise ships are in, all the taxi's rush to it and that high roller is left playing second fiddle. Same deal with activities.
If you come to the island and you're spending $600-$1000 a night do you not expect good expedient service?
I have said before...
and will say again Denis that we need to move away from the flip-floppin', fanny-packin, gum-smackin cruiser who picks up a few corny t-shirts at Makin Waves and goes home and tells all their friends that they went to BARMOODA. Not tryign to be harsh, but as you point out. We cannot compete with the Cancuns and Caribbean desitiations who are able to boast a low cost or all-inclusive vacation experience because our overhead is just too high. The labour force demands more $$$, particularly if you are looking to provide alternative opportunities for Bermudians, outside of International Business. I thikn that there is nothign wrong with touting Bermuda as an exclusive destination interested in high-end visitors, but we must be able to provide the product. What about the business traveller whose wife and family might want to tag along for some much-deserved quality time in the midst of business-travel? Why have we not targeted this niche-market? With all the time-share development that is going on I think the time is right to focus on this demographic and deal with quality over quanitity.
Overpopulated
Denis,
There is one thing I would like you and others to clear up for me as you keep raising the issue of the population level in Bermuda. It seems it is ok for the population to grow due to increased IB, which continues to grow and brings in more expats but it is a problem to try to create a rebirth in tourism because doing so will bring in more expats. Please clarify for me what your exact position is on tourism. Should Bermuda be looking to re-establish itself as a tourist destination or not?
The fact is the there are more available jobs in Bermuda than there are Bermudians to fill them, which means that expats are needed (although I would prefer to see the expats coming in to report to Bermudians who hold the senior positions). Are you saying that Bermuda needs to place a moratorium (sp) on the number of expats coming into the country?
We went through the tourism discussion on here a few weeks ago and someone raised the point that the average salary in Bermuda according to the last census, is $45,500. Clearly not enough to live a comfortable life in Bermuda. Now, not everyone has the aptitude or the desire to work in IB, therefore, should we not try to create high income earning jobs for these persons? A rebirth in tourism can create many high income earning jobs. I mentioned in the previous discussion that it has been documented that a pool boy at Atlantis can earn (salary plus tips) $60,000 per annum. Therefore, if tourism can be re-established in Bermuda t can offer opportunities for many Bermudians to earn a better level of income.
I sometimes wonder how concerned you and others are about creating high income earning opportunities for Bermudians outside IB because as soon as there is some positive sign that the visitor arrivals are increasing you and others take an immediate negative view on how the numbers are reported. Sure there are quite a number of business travelers coming to Bermuda but I remember during my days in IB in Bermuda many of these clients came in on a Thursday and flew their families in for the weekend. Even those that do not extend their stay, they still pay for a taxi to and from the airport, they pay for meals and they pay for hotel rooms.
Also, I think what you are forgeting is that marketing is about numbers, when a jurisdiction is reporting higher arrival numbers the news travels through the industry and creates an interest in the jurisdiction because people feel they are missing something.
So instead of continually taking the negative view how about looking at it from the point of view that tourism is showing some positive signs.
What high paying...
GG - Not attempting to answer for Denis, but I think the issue is with QUALITY over QUANTITY. How does flooding the island with cruise ship passengers (who spend an average of $221 per person) present high-income opportunities for Bermudians in tourism? With the exception of the entrepreneur, the benefit to those Bermudians you are so concerned about is probably nil while at the same time putting a significant strain on the infrastructure. It's no secret that members of the community expressed their concerns that this cruise ship season is supposed to be a bumper year in Bermuda - 10,000 plus passengers arriving on ONE DAY alone. With only 600 taxis in the island it all sounds good on paper but what QUALITY of vacation are we able to offer when these passengers are undoubtedly going to face long waits in lines, etc when we are unable to smoothly service this number of visitors who admittedly contribute little to the economy. It seems that we are opting to focus on volume rather than the actual quality or spending power which makes figures look good on paper, but what is the return rate, satisfaction level, etc, long-term value?
Focusing on the business traveller or high-net worth clients or heck, the vacationer who is goign to stay awhile and spend some cash might lead to the high-income tourist/hotel industry jobs that you allude to.
Also, if cruise passengers are making up the bulk of the visitors, then why are we focusing so much on airfare? Potential visitors will still need to pay ghastly rates on arrival... It's nice for a few but is the money that we are pouring into such initiatives getting the desired returns? I'm not sure. But I'm sure the business travellers appreciate the reduced cost to fly here.
Casual Observer - HUH?!?
What do cruise ship passengers have to do with bed nights. I never referred to cruise ship passengers in my post so I don't know where your reference comes from. The opportunities I am talking about are within the hotel industry. As tourism continues to rebound (business travelers have to included because they do take bed, they do pay for taxis and they do eat, there will be expanding opportunities, or there should be expanding opportunities for Bermudians, not expats, Bermudians in more senior roles in the hotel industry. If these opportunities are not created than we have a serious problem.
When I look at Atlantis (6,000 employees) and other properties here in the Bahamas, aside from some senior positions (although Bahamians do hold the majority of senior positions) Bahamians occupy 100% of the workforce. In fact there are a large number of Bahamians who as senior managers within these properties who have gone on to manage resorts of their employer in other parts of the world. Fact, a young Bahamian senior manager of Atlantis was recently transferred to Dubai to be the SVP of Human Resources for the facility onwed and managed by Atlantis.
Just as there is 100% Bahamian employees in properties int he Bahamas, so should it be in Bermuda and if do not make certain it happens than we will have yet another industry where economic success in Bermuda is reserved for foreigners and that should not be the case, Bermuda should be for Bermudians first, not only but first.
Cruise ship passengers tend to be the largest in number is more island destinations, yet airlifts are very important because airlift brings the hotel visitor. Are we getting the desired returns from the increased airlift intiatives? Maybe not at this present time but the easier it is to get to and from a destination the more likely it is for people to visit. The rebirth of tourism is not going to happen over night and this is why I can't understand why you and others are so negative. The rebirth has to start with creating airlift because you cannot and should not market a destination until the airlift capacity is available.
Your point
Guilden - Unless I'm mistaken, your point was about providing opportunities within the tourism industry for Bermudians. My point was that at present the focus appears to be quantity (in the form of cruise passengers) over quality (ie, those visitors who through the course of their vacation be it by tranportation, entertainment, dining, etc and in doing so provide attractive, well-paying jobs for Bermudians. That's where the reference to the cruise ship passengers came into my post.
I agree that there should be 100% Bermudian employees but I think in order to do this we would need to cater to the more discerning, high-end visitor and/or their families.
Same Page
CO,
Well, I guess we are actually on the same page than.
Totally agree Guilden
I think Guilden's spot on here. In my view there are two primary problems facing Bermuda today:
1. Education - A topic for another day, but not unrelated to:
2. Disparity between income and cost of living for the average Bermudian
Tourism absolutely creates opportunities for those that don't want or can't run out and grab an accounting degree. Let's face it, the CAs are the ones causing Bermuda many problems. It's not the actuaries we really need to worry about. It's those Bermudians working two jobs, not bringing in enough money from them to make it that we should be focused on.
IB does create a lot of jobs that aren't directly tied to main functions, but not nearly in the same way or to the same amount of people that tourism can. Problem is, for some reason Bermudians went from being known for their hospitality, good manners and general appreciation of tourists to not even serving them until they say good morning. There needs to be a shift in mentality before tourism can truly take off again. We have hte resources (people and land) what they need is training and focus.
And that should be the governments aim - give everyone an opportunity to pursue a career in tourism, and give them the skills and personanlity to enable this.
That's amazing!
Wow, good work on tourism! Congrats to those involved!
Beach, I detect sarcasm in
Beach, I detect sarcasm in that statement, if i'm wrong I apologize.
I always believed action speaks louder than words, and the PLP is delivering, Kudos to the government.
Not sarcastic at all
Honestly, I'm not being sarcastic at all. Those figures are impressive, and I'm happy to give kudos where it's due!
Well done
In my opinion the increase in tourist arrivals is a direct result of the efforts of Dr Brown and the Dept of Tourism.
Both the increase in the number of airlines flying to the island and the decrease in prices are obviously great for Bermuda. I don't think that these successes can be played down in any way. The point that cruise passengers spend less is mute when both air and cruise arrivals are on the increase. When there is an increase in both cruise and air arrivals, this ultimately means more money for the island.
I do have one small ‘bone to pick’ with the press release, however. When picking the best-looking statistics to publish, one must be careful when implicitly referencing those data not chosen. The only two phrases that I have a problem with are:
1. “Bermuda shows continued double-digit percentage growth.”
2. “Bermuda's tourism numbers are surging upward.”
The first one is plain wrong. Using the same source as the press release, in April Bermuda actually experienced a decrease of 3.9% in tourist air arrivals. That this was conveniently left off the published statistics does not bode well for me. It is wrong to imply that Bermuda is continually experiencing double digit growth when you know for a fact that it has experienced a decline.
The second quote is definitely misleading, and arguably inaccurate. Yes, some of the numbers are surging upward. However not all of them are.
As I stated at the beginning of this post, my criticism is not intended to detract from the progress being made in tourism. The press release does, however, make me ask the question “who are they trying to mislead: Bermudians? potential tourists? The Caribbean islands?”