The “ego and political pride” of Government is a stumbling block to tackling our struggling tourism industry, according to opposition MPs.OBA Shadow Tourism Minister Patricia Gordon-Pamplin and UBP leader Kim Swan say Government “do not know what they are doing” to drive the tourism industry forward.They are now calling for a Tourism Authority to be set up to “put Bermuda first” after a decline in visitor numbers has left tourism “on its deathbed.”The two politicians have spoken out after entertainer Tony Brannon, who has been involved in tourism all his life, was fired from the Bermuda Tourism Board following conflicts with Tourism Minister Patrice Minors. Ms Minors said in a letter that his input was not as “constructive” as she envisioned after he said politics continued to strangle the industry.The firing of Mr Brannon, who now looks set to join the Shadow Tourism Board, is expected to be discussed when the Bermuda Tourism Board meets for a scheduled meeting this morning.Ms Gordon-Pamplin accused the Government of failing to put Bermuda first “ahead of egos, ahead of party and political pride.”She said: “Amateur leadership simply watched while the industry slid into depression, failing the many Bermudians who relied on the industry for jobs, income and business.“Bermuda needs to get serious about the tourism industry. It’s not yet dead, but it’s on its deathbed.“We need professional leadership that is responsible for setting clear strategic objectives, targeting proven markets and mobilizing the resources to get air visitors numbers up to acceptable levels.“We need a system that will hold these professionals accountable for their performance. Bermuda needs to take responsibility. We’ve not had that and it is a key reason the Island has tolerated terrible results year after year.”Ms Gordon-Pamplin said she was not impressed that Mr Brannon said the Minister “didn’t want to do anything different.” She is also concerned that the strategic plan for Bermuda tourism had yet to be started and an overseas expert was to be hired to write the plan.Ms Gordon-Pamplin said: “These statements give us no confidence the Minister, and her Government, has the right mindset for the task at hand. The situation screams the need for a Tourism Authority.”Talking about Mr Brannon’s claims that Ms Minors had asked him whether he had leaked information to The Royal Gazette, Ms Gordon-Pamplin said: “If the Minister had been putting Bermuda first, if work was being accomplished, there would be no paranoia, no need to kill debate and no need to put ego ahead of the national interest.“There should be a pride about what is happening behind closed doors, rather there is a witch hunt.”Mr Swan, a spokesman for tourism, said he had supported the need for a Tourism Authority since the idea was introduced by then UBP Tourism Minister David Dodwell in 1998.He said research had shown that in the best interests of Bermuda to “come up with a solution to empower the private stakeholders.”Mr Swan said: “The private sector developed tourism, they established our tourism model.“There should be nothing political about tourism. The only way to get out of this is for the Government to ignite private industries to move forward“Government has got to recognise that tourism is not a government department. Setting up a successful business is different to running a government department.“When we recognise that we can stop the country crawling along economically.”Mr Swan is now calling on Bermuda to “look at models working elsewhere” and follow the lead of other countries.He said: “We need to take the bureaucracy and politics out of the management and decision making out of this vital industry.“Bermuda has a huge opportunity here and we need to jump on it. At the moment we are going to the bottom as far as tourism is concerned.”Mr Swan said he appreciated Mr Brannon’s best intentions to “make a difference” calling it “a very unfortunate situation.”He said: “Mr Brannon feels the pain of the tourism industry not working. As a consequence he’s a very vocal proponent for improvement.“He’s played out his entire life in the tourism industry. He’s had an integral part in providing a quality experience to visitors to make them return to Bermuda.“You can’t expect him to be a ‘yes boy’ as he’s never been one, that’s not what he is about. But he’s not a critic; he wants what’s best for the country. His passion for tourism needs to be recognised.”Tourism Board Chairman Malcolm Butterfield said: “I will not communicate my views for the simple reason that I have to follow proper protocol as we serve under the Minister and she has taken this position on this matter.“We’ve always been committed to tourism and we will continue to work for the best interests of Bermuda.”Mr Butterfield said a replacement member would be found, adding that the decision “rests entirely with the Minister.”The Royal Gazette spoke to several members of the Bermuda Tourism Board yesterday who all commented that they were sorry to see Mr Brannon go. They said they respected his expertise and his enthusiasm to move the industry forward.Some of them said it was unfortunate that Mr Brannon was no longer on the Board as they believed the dispute should have been dealt with internally.Board members said Ms Minors had e-mailed them to tell them about Mr Brannon, but they had been instructed not to speak to the media.Mr Brannon has received overwhelming support with phone calls, e-mails and messages on his Facebook page from people, including politicians and hoteliers.He said: “I feel good about the support I’ve got. But at the end of the day, it’s not about me; it’s about tourism in Bermuda, we have to put the best interests of the country first.“People’s livelihoods are on the line, but six months on and we’ve done nothing. They may as well have put Little Bo Peep on the Tourist Board as it’s not going to make any difference.”Ms Minors did not respond to requests for comment yesterday.l See Editorial Page 4