REPOST: How Is Bermuda Fighting For Its Tourism Future?

 In his article, Brian Major of Travel Pulse discusses Bermuda's fight to keep the its tourism future bright.

Image Source: travelpulse.com

 The Bermuda archipelago seems to offer the perfect vacation environment. The territory is just over 650 miles from the U.S. eastern coast, a flight of less than two hours. Bermuda’s humid subtropical climate creates an ideal environment to appreciate its series of beautiful bays, beaches and harbors. The country features numerous historic sites tied to U.S. and European colonial history.

Nevertheless, Bermuda is in a fight for its tourism future. The British Overseas Territory is grappling with an aging and stagnant hotel inventory, transportation and service issues, and a perception that the country’s tourism offerings are outdated and no longer competitive with other warm-weather destinations.

Some of the issues were on full display this past week, as cruise passengers disembarking ships Bermuda’s Royal Naval Dockyard cruise ship pierencountered long lines and significant delays following the less-than-smooth debut of a new shuttle service.

Launched in July, the mini-bus shuttles are intended as an alternative to public buses whose routes include Horseshoe Bay beach. Instead, confusion regarding the service’s price and availability led many visitors to opt for public buses, creating long lines and delays. Bermuda has struggled with transportation issues as buses and ferries are often heavily utilized by tourists, leading to delays and complaints from residents and tourists alike.

Recent tourist arrival data presents a mixed picture. Bermuda welcomed 50,219 land-based visitors and 25,433 cruise ship arrivals between January and April, according to 2014 Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) statistics. The totals represent a 4.5 percent increase in land arrivals and a 0.7 percent decrease in cruise visitors. Overall in 2013, Bermuda hosted 236,343 land-based visitors, a 1.8 percent increase over 2012. Cruise passengers for the year totaled 320,090 arrivals, a steep 15 percent decline from 378,260 visitors in 2012.

However those mixed-bag numbers only partially obscure the steep decline in arrivals from Bermuda’s apex in the 1980s, when the territory annually welcomed more than 500,000 land-based visitors. Today Bermuda ranks 20thamong the 27 countries tracked by CTO in terms of overnight visitors, and 18thin terms of cruise ship visitors.

Since taking took office in December 2012 following a government re-shuffling that included the election of Craig Cannonier as Bermuda’s new premier, Shawn Crockwell, Bermuda’s minister of tourism development and transport, has attempted a variety of measures to reverse Bermuda’s declining tourism fortunes.

“The new government is aware that the true test is its success in facilitating the industry’s rejuvenation by fulfilling its platform promises, which were designed so that tourism can achieve the revival the country can be proud of,” Crockwell said upon taking office.

He has since launched the Bermuda Tourism Authority (BTA), which replaced the government-run department of tourism as Bermuda’s primary tourism marketing and promotion organization. In January, BTA named Bill Hanbury, a veteran destination marketing professional, as executive director.

Crockwell also moved quickly to encourage the development of new resort-based casinos. Casino gaming had long been banned in Bermuda, but inDecember 2013 Crockwell announced the government would proceed with “the establishment of legalized casino gaming through the parliamentary process,” foregoing an earlier-promised public referendum.

Bermuda’s lack of casinos put it at a disadvantage versus other warm-weather vacation destinations, said Crockwell. He cited polls that said 76 percent of Bermuda residents supported casino gaming.
“Casino gaming is not a panacea but a much needed amenity for our tourism product,” he said. “We must augment our tourism offerings and we must enhance our tourism infrastructure.”

Crockwell has also sought to revitalize Bermuda’s aging hotel base, which has not added a major new property in more than a decade. In fact, last September Rosewood Tucker’s Point became the third Bermuda resort to be placed in bankruptcy in the last three years, following Newstead Belmont Hills in 2011 and Pink Beach Club in 2010.

Under Crockwell, the government recently announced an “exclusive negotiation” with hotel developer Desarrollos Hotelco Group to build a resort in historic St. George’s. The development would be constructed on the site of a former Club Med and feature a 238-room hotel, an 18-hole golf course, a spa and fitness center, swimming pools and a casino. Desarrollos was identified through a request for proposals launched by Crockwell’s office.

The announcement follows the recent re-opening of Bermuda’s 106 year-old Elbow Beach Resort, which had been operated since 2000 by Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group. The 98-room resort is now operating under the management of the Burns Group, a New York based company.

Yet despite the recent positive strides, Bermuda’s tourism future is far from assured. Cannonier resigned in June amidst a political scandal, whose events ironically included an airplane flight he shared with Crockwell and Bermuda’s then-attorney general. The scandal has been nicknamed “JetGate” by local media. The flight appears to have been at most a sideshow to a larger story of improper campaign contributions, and Crockwell has not been implicated in any wrongdoing.

However with his party’s former leader now no longer a part of Bermuda’s government, it will be interesting see to what extent the changes Crockwell has sought to implement will continue.

In the meantime, Bermuda remains at the mercy of an extremely competitive global leisure tourism market. One month after BTA officials launched a tourism action plan to establish Bermuda as a “world-class golf destination,” the PGA of America announced October’s Bermuda PGA Grand Slam of Golf tournament would be the final one hosted by Bermuda following an eight-year run.

Hanbury sought to place a positive spin on the departure. “All good things eventually come to an end,” he said. “Bermuda is well prepared to pursue other world-class golf activities.”


Learn more about Bermuda tourism by following this John Jefferis Twitter account.

REPOST: Summer Vacation 2014: 10 Ways to Get More Bang for Your Travel Bucks

Traveling is often thought of as an expensive endeavor. Find out how to get the best deals even when vacationing on a budget from this TIME.com article.

Image Source: TIME.com

Tops on the summer travel hot list: which dream islands have suddenly become affordable, the airlines that offer the best value, and where a thirsty traveler can turn for cheap beer on a hot summer day.

Summer starts this weekend, and to mark the season’s kickoff we bring you 10 of the best ways to make your vacation dollar go farther.

Most Unexpected Bargain Spot for Budget Travelers
Normally, the sunburnt Greek islands flood with tourists in July and August, and with the crowds come soaring prices. Not so this year. The country’s “ongoing financial crisis has caused visitor numbers to decrease and, as a result, prices have dropped in an effort to woo back travelers,” explains Lonely Planet, which named Greece as its top European destination for backpackers in 2014. Earlier this year, the Backpacker Index estimated that a budget traveler could get by on $55 per day on the popular island of Santorini, making it cheaper than Athens ($62).

Dream Island That’s Suddenly a Steal
According to Priceline, the average nightly room rate in Maui this summer is $188, a 10% drop compared with the same period a year ago. Other data have indicated that Hawaii’s visitor numbers are down, and that tourist spending is on the decline as well, likely related to an economy that continues to be lackluster—or at least is perceived as such.

Most Cost-Effective Place to Vacation
No need to complicate things: It’s the beach. Expedia surveyed travelers around the globe about a number of vacation topics, including which kind of trip offered the most bang for the buck. Beach vacations got the top ranking, with 40% of those polled naming it as the most cost-effective option. Meanwhile, 12% said cruises , and 7% named theme park vacations.

Where to Find the Cheapest Beer

Image Source: TIME.com

GoEuro, a travel search site based overseas, ranked 40 world cities in terms of that all-important feature: beer affordability. Warsaw, Poland’s capital city, gets bragging rights for selling the least expensive beer of all, at £0.64 ($1.08) a pop. Berlin, Prague, Lisbon, Dublin, and Mexico City aren’t far behind, all featuring brews for under $1.35. Unfortunately, the per-beer prices are what tourists will encounter in a regular store, not at a bar, pub, or club, where prices are far more expensive. In Dublin, for instance, a pint of Guinness in a touristy pub will probably run about $10.

Most Affordable Business Class
The recent launch of JetBlue Mint, a premium service available on select coast-to-coast routes, brings spacious, fully-flat seats, high-end food and drink, and other business class amenities within reach of plenty of fliers. Fares between JFK and LAX or SFO start at $599 one way, and are readily available at around$1,600 round trip, compared with $2,500 and up for other airlines’ business class seating on the same routes.

Best Airline Seat Space for the Buck
The flight-planning site Hopper crunched the numbers and concluded that AirTran Airways, which is owned by Southwest, offers the best value per dollar of any airline in terms of what a passenger gets in the way of seat area and pitch. As for overall customer satisfaction per ticket price, that award goes to JetBlue.

Least Expensive U.S. Destination City

Image Source: TIME.com

The fact that the average daytime high in July is 106 degrees may have something to do with why Las Vegas was named the cheapest U.S. destination city of the summer by TripAdvisor. But hey, it’s always delightfully chilly in the air-conditioned casino of your choice. Researchers added up expected costs such as hotel, taxi, and dinner and cocktails for two, and estimated that a night in Sin City would run $276, about $230 cheaper than the most expensive U.S. city, San Francisco.

Best Home Base for Travelers
Travelers who live in the vicinity of Chicago and Washington, D.C., are in luck: They have the best flight departure options in the U.S., according to WalletHub, which factored in the cost, duration, and directness of routing on flights both within the U.S. and abroad. It’s no coincidence that travelers in both of these cities have more than one airport to choose from when booking flights.

Best Credit Card for Travelers
The answer as to which credit card provides the best perks and bonuses for travelers is heavily dependent on the cardholder’s spending habits and vacation desires. CardHub lists a dozen good options, broken down into categories for travelers who prefer rewards focused on hotels, flights, and more. In terms of all-around travel bonuses, among the top-named cards is theBarclays Arrival Plus, which gives 40,000 bonus miles—the equivalent of a $400 statement credit—after a new cardholder spends $3,000 during the first 90 days. NextAdvisor also says the Barclays card is tops in travel rewards. The card has an $89 annual fee, but it’s waived for the first year. Another feature to factor in when deciding on a credit card to use for travel purposes: Some cards are safer when going abroad.

Cheapest Flight to Europe Before It’s Too Late
Low-fare carrier Norwegian Air has been aggressively trying toexpand service between Europe and the U.S. The airline, which has offered transatlantic round trips for under $500 (taxes included), recently brought its low-cost service to more U.S. cities, including Orlando. After a strong lobbying effort on the behalf of rival carriers and airline union workers, however, in early June the U.S. House of Representatives voted to block Norwegian’s expansion plans, reportedly due to concerns the airline wouldn’t be complying with labor laws. Since the Norwegian subsidiary that operates its transatlantic service is working with a temporary permit, the future of the airline’s international flights is up in the air.

Learn more about budget-friendly getaways from this John Jefferis blog.

REPOST: Information on Betchart Expeditions' trans-Atlantic eclipse voyage

Betchart Expeditions offers two dozen science-themed trips a year to destinations around the globe. Read more in this LosAngelesTimes.com article.

The trans-Atlantic eclipse voyage was organized by Betchart Expeditions ([800] 252-4910, http://www.betchartexpeditions.com), a California-based company specializing in science-oriented travel. It offers about two dozen science-themed trips a year to destinations around the globe.

I'd traveled with Betchart once before, on a trip to Antarctica 20 years earlier, and I trusted the company, the intellectually oriented clientele its trips attract and the experts it chooses for daily lectures. On this trip, Peter Kissner, the Star Flyer's cruise director, lectured each day, covering such topics as our position each morning, ship-building history and seafaring lore.

The Star Flyer and its sister ships are part of the Star Clippers fleet, http://www.starclippers.com/us-dom, the dream child of a Swedish mega-millionaire. The Flyer was built in Belgium in 1991. Its twin, the Star Clipper, followed in 1992. The youngest in the fleet is also the biggest — the Royal Clipper, a five-masted fully square-rigged ship, built in 2000.

Image Source: latimes.com

The Flyer officers are mainly from Eastern Europe, where naval cadets still train on tall ships. Crew members — including deck hands and exquisitely trained waiters — were mostly from India and the Philippines.

AMENITIES

Like other cruise ships, the Star Flyer offered optional land tours for extra cost at each port: Ronda and Seville in Spain; Tangier and Tétouan in Morocco; the island of Gran Canaria in the Canaries and, at the end, the Caribbean island of Barbados. Unlike bigger cruise ships, there were no gambling tables, no big musical shows, no fancy-dress glitz. Musical entertainment came from a classically trained Hungarian pianist and from passengers themselves: A dozen or so gathered on the foredeck every evening to sing "Salve Regina," a traditional sailors' hymn.

ACCOMMODATIONS

The cabins and attached bathrooms were compact, as they must be on sailboats, but they were comfortable, clean and well-maintained.

FOOD

Food was good, prepared from scratch and available six times a day, from early-bird breakfast through midnight snack. Dinners, though not formal, were elegant, with many courses. The servers were flawlessly attentive.

In my case, that was asking a lot, because I am dangerously allergic to peanuts. Warned in advance, the ship's hotel manager, chef, maitre d' and wait staff watched over me, explaining the menu at every meal, pointing out what I could safely eat and what to avoid. I cannot praise the Star Flyer enough for that. The only other place in the world where I've felt so protected is with my own family at home.

PRICE

Cabins ranged from $5,495 to $5,995 a person, double occupancy. (Betchart found me a roommate, so I avoided the 150% single-supplement rate.) Meals and lectures were included. Round-trip group airfare was an extra $1,295 from San Francisco, Chicago or Miami.

This wasn't a cheap trip, and I wouldn't have been on it if a dear friend hadn't intervened while I was dithering about robbing my 401(k).

"This sounds like a once-in-a-lifetime thing," he said. "How about I give it to you? It would be for Christmas. And Christmas. And Christmas...."

I gasped and said yes. But didn't he want to go along? "God, no," he said. "I hate water."

John Jefferis is the owner of Coco Reef Resort, one of the best resorts in the Caribbean. Follow this Twitter page for more updates.