Dear Sir,

My wife and I have travelled to your fine island annually for the past 42 years. We absolutely love Bermuda and Bermudians.

Having said that, we are — as many other travelers are — disappointed at the Travel Authorisation Form. It’s not so much the cost; if we can afford to visit Bermuda, we certainly can afford the $40 fee. Rather, it’s the required Covid test. The test is expensive and unnecessary, given vaccines, treatments and natural immunity.

Who would drop dollars on a trip and chance one of their family members testing positive, even if asymptomatic? All other destinations in the Caribbean and Europe do not require this.

During the busiest travel season in modern world history, our flight from Philadelphia on American Airlines on August 25 was less than half-full. We have spoken to other travellers that had similar low-occupancy flights. Every restaurant we dined at on Front Street was empty.

This is unfortunate and I, a non-Bermudian, urge those in control to rethink this. Simply put, it’s a “deal killer” for many would-be tourists.

Respectfully,

DAVID R. GREVE

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania