On the way back from Horseshoe Bay, sightseeing bus driver James (Jimi) Tweed always makes his passengers check to make sure their cruise ship hasn’t been sucked up into the Bermuda Triangle.“Do you still see it?,” he asks them.“Yes,” they answer.“Oh, good,” he says, and then proceeds to tell them all about history of the Bermuda Triangle, admittedly some of the information is a tad embellished (cough), but the tourists lap it up.They love his stories and his friendly service.One of his passengers recently nominated him for the first ever Visitor Industry Partnership (VIP) Sunshine Award given to people in the tourism industry who go above and beyond the call of duty. The winners are nominated by visitors themselves.“I actually met the lady who nominated me, Joanne Brown, three times,” said Mr Tweed. “The Browns got on my bus in Dockyard. She had two teenage daughters and one of them was very interested in Bermuda history. She asked me a lot of questions and we chatted.”Normally, Mr Tweed only travels between Dockyard to Horseshoe Bay and back but one day when he stopped the bus, Mrs Brown was standing with a crowd of people who all needed to go to Elbow Beach.“It was the last run of the day and I asked my supervisor if I could take them to Elbow Beach,” said Mr Tweed. “The supervisor agreed.”The next morning Mr Tweed happened to pick up the same family again, this time going in the direction of Dockyard.Mr Tweed has been a bus driver for 16 years. For four years he did the school run from Somerset to CedarBridge Academy and then he switched to sightseeing. His job gives him a first hand look at Bermuda’s tourism industry.“I have definitely seen a lot more tourists this season because of the cruise ships, but I have also seen a lot more people staying in the hotels, especially Canadians,” said Mr Tweed. “The people who come off the cruise ships don’t know anything about Bermuda. They are looking for you to guide and show them things.“Once or twice you get a few people who have done a bit of research, but that’s not the norm. Sometimes we have folks who are very attentive. Then, sometimes, you have to say, ‘are you guys awake back there?’. But they are listening.”He said the majority come to Bermuda because of its proximity to the United States, Bermuda’s beauty and its safe reputation.“We are a beautiful country,” he said. “I took it for granted before I started driving the bus. When I started driving the bus I marvelled at something beautiful, in Bermuda every day and would say ‘I never noticed that before’.”The Bermuda Triangle is also a big curiosity factor for a lot of visitors to Bermuda, although he doesn’t feel it should be officially promoted.“It would disappoint them if it was promoted,” he said. “Just leave it as it is. It is up to the tour guide.”Mr Tweed loves working with people, and started off his career doing front desk reservations in the hotel industry.He moved up to group reservations coordinator, but had to leave the hotels to find more lucrative work.“I had to find a job that paid a bit more money,” he said. “My father was sick with cancer and then my mother got sick. I went to work for the Telephone Company for several years.”He was very pleased to win the Sunshine Award. The prize includes a special pin, and also a free night at the Fairmont Southampton Princess with dinner and breakfast included. He is also eligible to become the overall winner for the year.“I feel really humble to get there, but there is a lot of us out there,” he said. “But it is the people (visitors) who take the time to do this (make the nomination) that are wonderful.“This lady (Joanne Brown) told me that she was going to write in about me. I adore my country.“The Sunshine Awards are stepping stones for us to come together to make this better, not just for visitors, but also locals.”For more information about the Sunshine Awards or to make a nomination go to www.vip.bm.