The Tourism Board Amendment Act 2012 was passed in the House of Assembly last night, but not before a lengthy debate with questioning by the Opposition on specific clauses.Tourism Minister Wayne Furbert told his parliamentary colleagues that “every organisation needs to make improvements from time to time to see what’s been done wrong and how things can be improved”.Noting the sharp decrease in air arrivals since 1980 to 2011 as opposed to significant increases in cruise ship passenger arrivals in addition to the loss of hotel beds he said the Bill “is just one part of the Government strategy for tourism.The five to ten year plan will be unveiled at a public meeting on Monday. And the New Tourism Brand will be released to the people of Bermuda “soon thereafter” along with the new advertising campaign.The new legislation gives the board “statutory powers” and a “defined purpose” so that the marketing activity for Bermuda “would not change with a new Government or a new Minister”.“It is intended that the Board set up a company for operational purposes, causing the Board to possibly acquire and dispose of property as may be necessary for the present and future development of any activities or institutions under its remit,” said Mr Furbert.“It is also necessary to secure accommodations to house the Board’s staff as the Board operates outside of the Ministry.“All of these activities will move the Ministry’s closer to its objective to increase jobs in the tourism sector from approximately 3,600 to 6,000 in ten years as well as effectively managing outcomes of the same with a view of growing GDP.”The Bill also provides for a Chief Executive to be appointed by the board with the Minister’s approval and “any other necessary resource”.“A Memorandum of Understanding will be established for the arrangement between the Board and the Department of Tourism. It will focus on budgetary allocation from the Tourism budget for programmes approved by the Board, the process for the Board to communicate with the Department and relevant operational procedures,” said Mr Furbert.“In addition to funds approved by the Legislature, the Board will also receive fees. The main medium for the Board to receive fees is from stakeholder participation in Board programmes.”“A ‘Tourism Guest Fee’ will be formally introduced, based on the ‘Tourism Fund’ model that was established through a Memorandum of Understanding between the Government and the Bermuda Hotel Association in October 2010,” he added.Shadow Tourism Minister Shawn Crockwell however criticised the legislation, saying it falls short of giving the board autonomy, requiring the Tourism Minister to approve board decisions.“When you read the details you find out that nothing much is changing,” Mr Crockwell said. “The only thing that’s changing is more spending and more bureaucracy.”Mr Crockwell argued that part of the reason why the tourism industry has been on the decline is the change in direction caused by a change in the Minister responsible, something that a Tourism Authority would prevent, but only if they have autonomy.“It appears to me that what we have here today is window dressing,” he said. “In reality all we are doing is adding bureaucracy. The leadership is still in the hands of the Minister.”He said that if elected, an OBA Government would create a tourism authority that would have the appropriate autonomy and independence to make a difference.Kim Swan, who was elected under the UBP mantle, praised Mr Furbert for his hard work promoting the Island overseas and described the new direction for tourism as a “quantum leap” for the Government, but said the legislation stopped short of the final step and giving the industry the power it needs.He said that politics have held back the industry, noting that while local musicians were historically sent overseas to promote the Island, under Premier Ewart Brown concerts were held locally under the tourism banner to please Bermudians.“You are not going to get any more tourists at National Stadium standing next to Beyonce,” he said. “You find them overseas.“We need to give tourism to the people. We are moving in that direction but we have got to move fast. We are looking in another direction, but we need to get there now.”OBA’s Patricia Gordon Pamplin called the legislation cumbersome, saying it continued to leave the future of tourism in the hands of the Minister rather than experts in the field.“If you listen to even half the ideas that area articulated and advanced by people who know the tourism industry, we would not have these problems.”Health Minister Zane DeSilva fired back at the Opposition, saying in the case of any business the CEO makes the final decision, not the advisers.“If they have a problem with intervention, why don’t they call for independence?” he asked.Mr DeSilva praised Mr Furbert for his efforts in promoting the Island overseas, dismissing the opposition as “the party of no.”Government MP Walter Lister meanwhile said that Government must be responsible with the people’s money, and that meant having control of how the Tourism Board spends.“You cannot take the people’s money, put it in another dominion and have no say for it,” Mr Lister said. “This is a direct line of authority.“The way it is now, it is very clear the line of authority and the line of responsibility and that’s the way Government should act.”Shadow Minister of Education Grant Gibbons agreed that there must be some degree of accountability, but said that the degree of Ministerial involvement included in the act was akin to putting training wheels on a Ferrari.“This is not a case of saying no, it’s a case of saying you need to go a little farther,” Dr Gibbons said. “The sad fact of the matter is this is not going to do what needs to be done.“There is a tremendous amount of talent, and they are going to be incredibly frustrated because very time they need to do something, they need to go to the Minister for approval.“To have to check every time they have to go to the men’s room simply doesn’t provide the kind of independence, not complete independence, but the necessary independence to do what they need to do.”Defending the legislation, Mr Furbert said that every area that has established a Tourism Board or authority, the core responsibility has remained with the Government.“Every authority out there has a Minister, whether it’s South Africa or whether it’s Hawaii,” Mr Furbert said.He further maintained that the legislation was giving the board power, but that giving the board too much power would be detrimental.“Do you think that the country wants a board to be investing money, dilly dallying around the world without the right authority?” he asked.He also dismissed the suggestion that the legislation is only coming now because of the coming election.“It’s not about an election. We don’t have to create a Tourism Board or a Tourism Authority to win an election. I don’t need a board to beat Donte Hunt.“The Government just decided that it’s time we all move forward in this direction.”