Students have it drilled into them at endless events that they should “aim for the sky if they wish to reach the rooftops”. There’s nothing wrong with ambition, or setting goals which are slightly out of reach.But ambition also needs to be tempered with realism. A person who struggles with maths but enjoys performing on stage should aim to be an actor, not an actuary.And the people charged with reviving Bermuda’s tourism should aim to create a sustainable and successful tourism industry, and not try to reinvent 1980, the boom days of Bermuda tourism and an era that the Island is unlikely to repeat for myriad reasons.In 1980, Bermuda had something on the order of 10,000 hotel beds and the hotel and restaurant industry employed 5,450 people. In 2010, Bermuda had around 2,500 hotel beds and 1,840 people working in the sector, according to the Census.Even now, when Bermuda is experiencing the highest unemployment levels in living memory, the idea that tourism can quadruple the number of beds and add thousands of employees seems unrealistic, or unrealistic unless thousands of non-Bermudians are to be imported at every level of the industry.Of course, the Board hopes to accomplish some of this by changing the tourism product, according to Tourism Minister Wayne Furbert. This would include broadening Bermuda into a year-round destination.And some of the other means of accomplishing the goals will no doubt be fleshed out when the full report of the Board is released; Minister Furbert’s statement to the House of Assembly was relatively brief.But the statement did acknowledge some of the challenges Bermuda faces, notably strong competition from US and Caribbean destinations and the Island’s low investment appeal; namely Bermuda’s high investment and operating costs.Other challenges, like branding and positioning, can be solved. But the cost problem is much harder to solve, unless the economy continues to implode, which is not impossible. But the strategies outlined in Mr Furbert’s statement do not answer that problem.Instead, projections for employment and revenue in ten years time are given. These are about as valuable as the paper Mr Furbert’s statement was written on. No one can say what state tourism or any other industry will be in ten years time.Mr Furbert’s energy and optimism are infectious. But he and the Tourism Board need to be realistic as well. Hopefully, the full report will be more sober.