Q & A with Bermuda’s Prime Minister Ewart Brown and Director of Tourism Billy Griffith

A week and a half ago we had the opportunity to visit Bermuda for the first time as per the Annual Caribbean Hotel and Investment Conference, which we have been covering profusely on CDN. As expected, the organization of the event was the best. The food was supreme. The tourism board very professional, but we need to confess that getting in touch with the VIPs was not an easy thing to do.

Also, we were afraid to be in a destination “too British” to be marketed as Caribbean. But we were supported by many people to get the best of the best of Bermuda, especially for the taxi drivers, who have traveled the world and are very fond of Latin America. They ended up calling me “mami” with all due respect of course, and guided by them we saw the real beauty of Bermuda, even further than its pink beaches and colorful architecture. Can you believe that a taxi driver or any Bermudian with a good reputation can talk very quickly in Bermuda with the Premier in charge if he needs so? If so, how come were we going to leave the Island without doing the same? Indeed, we are very grateful to Premier Brown and to Mr. Griffith for taking the time to answer all our questions.

What does the CHTIC mean for Bermuda?
Billy Griffith: Bermuda has been experiencing a major rebirth of its hotel product in recent times. Major five-star fractional resorts like the Newstead Belmont Hills and Tucker’s Point Club have opened their doors in the past 12 months. The Reefs Hotel is currently undergoing major expansion as well and will open 16 magnificent fractional units in June. Developer Carl Brazarian intends to break ground on the Park Hyatt Resort in St. Georges in the next few months paving the way for a new resort on a piece of land (the former site of Club Med ) that lay vacant for 20 years.

CHTIC provided an excellent platform for Bermuda to showcase it’s great infrastructure and exciting development opportunities. Attendees of the show would have seen Bermuda’s transformation compared to their last visit approximately five years ago. Bermuda is extremely keen to host this event again in the near future.

How is Bermuda getting ready for the high season and why is it starting now?
Billy Griffith: Bermuda’s location in the North Atlantic, where it experiences cooler winters, dictates its visitor seasonality. The November to March period, with its balmy 68 degree temperature is ideal for its Golf and Spa branding. The high visitation period occurs April to October and is the prime beach season, as well as the period for cruise arrivals and marquee events like the Bermuda Music Festival. Bermuda is gearing up for the season with a major destination promotion called Sizzling Summer 400. The country is celebrating 400 years since its discovery in 1609 with many exciting events throughout the year. The 400 promotion is offering clients $400 credit for stays of 4 nights or more in 12 major resort hotels.

How many rooms you have here and how many are being constructed?
Billy Griffith: There are just over 3200 rooms on the island. 200 of these rooms have been constructed in the past twelve months.

How is the crisis affecting your tourism and the offshore?
Billy Griffith: As with other destinations, Bermuda is experiencing a downturn from all areas of business, short and long haul in line with market trends. Visitor air arrivals were down 14 percent in 2008, and 2009 advanced bookings are trending in a similar way. We are confident however that we can turn this around because of our unique geographical position with our proximity to the key Northeast region of the USA.

How is the new tax for Britons to travel abroad (airport tax) affecting you?
Billy Griffith: There is no discernable adverse effect of this tax on UK visitor arrivals to Bermuda. We continue to enjoy good production from our daily carrier out of Gatwick, British Airways. We view, with serious concern, any attempt to increase taxes that would impact intended vacation visitors. A tax increase will obviously have a detrimental effect on efforts to get business and we vigorously support the CHA and CTO representation on our behalf.

Are you going to join CTO and CHTA for the Summit in Washington and also for Caribbean Week?
Billy Griffith: Yes, definitely .

If you are not exactly in the Caribbean, why Bermuda joined the CTO and CHTA?
Hon. Ewart F Brown, Premier and Minister of Tourism: Bermuda joined CTO and CHTA because we believe strongly in the idea of sharing brain power and learning from one another. If we have a challenge in Bermuda, chances are a sister country in the Caribbean has conquered a similar problem. Similarly, when we have a success we can provide direction to a sister country that may want to follow the same path. The worth of sharing knowledge and experiences cannot be overstated.

Why did Bermuda become a member of the CARICOM and what are your expectations with this?
Hon. Ewart F Brown, Premier and Minister of Tourism: Bermuda joined CARICOM for the same reasons it joined CTO and CHTA. Our CARICOM relationship has been especially valuable during the global economic crisis. The current crisis has proven just how economically inter-connected we are globally; countries that choose isolationism do so at their own peril.

Because of the crisis, are you planning to diversify your offer in other non-traditional markets as Brazil, Latin America, Central America, some Asian countries, Russia?
Hon. Ewart F Brown, Premier and Minister of Tourism: Our core strategy is to concentrate on the main feeder market i.e. North East of the USA, with a secondary strategy of investing in secondary markets. In Bermuda we have already started our outreach in Latin America and Asia, even before the economic downturn. In Latin America we are able to use our strong reputation as an international reinsurance centre as a catalyst. Just last fall I went to Buenos Aires and we were able to lure an important Latin America reinsurance group to hold a conference in Bermuda in 2010. Asia is a more difficult nut to crack for political and cultural reasons, but we have begun the progress of getting Bermuda on the Chinese list of countries approved for leisure travel.

Do you believe the country is ready to do so?
Hon. Ewart F Brown, Premier and Minister of Tourism: I think the country is ready for moves to diversify but I'm not sure the media elite in our country are ready for it. One in particular has been hyper critical of any tourism plan that requires thinking beyond the U.S. east coast. It's difficult to appreciate that kind of small mindedness.

*Indiana Monteverde would like to thank to Pink Beach Club for her stay in the three extra days, and taxi drivers Bobby, Larry and Bailey. Edward Peniston (Bobby) took her to an unforgettable spot, The Leopard’s Club, which was the first club for black people in the segregation times and which still exists. Larry Rogers was very warm and introduced her to many people, and Kevin Bailey even speaks Spanish.