“People travel to faraway places to watch, in fascination, the kind of people they ignore at home.” Dagobert D RunesBreakfast started with a cranberry muffin. Fresh coffee followed with a side of blueberry pancakes. The final course? A chocolate brownie topped by vanilla ice-cream lightly doused in ice wine.Even more impressive in this three-course breakfast? No, not the extra seat I would have to purchase to get back home. Nope. The most impressive part of breakfast is that John made everything gluten-free for me (a celiac which means I am allergic to all wheat, rye, oats, barley and malt). John? No, not the latest travel buddy. John ran the bed and breakfast where my travel buddy and I stayed while visiting Niagara-on-the-Lake (ie my side-trip idea if visiting Toronto. Read about it on www.robynswanderings.com).While we were there the weather was freezing (I mean literally, minus one or minus two degrees every day). The historic walk of the town was miserable with wind whipping off the lake. Wine tasting? Well it was spent running from warm car into semi-warm wineries. Niagara Falls? I’m surprised these had not frozen; the sidewalk next to them certainly was (my bruised hip is proof of that). I’m not selling Niagara-on-the-Lake after talking it up last week am I?But I would go back.I would. And the reason I would return to Niagara-on-the-Lake was John’s gourmet breakfasts. I would go back because as soon as we arrived he was full of information about how far Niagara Falls was from the house, which were the best wineries to visit and where I should eat in the town of Niagara-on-the-Lake. We even received an upgrade in the room because there was no-one else staying there. When my travel buddy got sick, John was there offering medicine.And you know what? It wasn’t cheap. A night in the off-season at the bed and breakfast was about $175.What’s my point in Rock Fever this week? Look, in Bermuda we are trying to come up with reasons why tourists are not joining our shores. Maybe we don’t have enough nightlife? Maybe we need casinos? Maybe we need a big five-star hotel that is eclipsed only by those in Dubai?I think we’re all missing something.Full disclosure: I’m not an economist. I don’t run a hotel; never have. I’ve never worked for Bermuda’s Department of Tourism and I have not worked in a marketing department....anywhere.But I am a traveller and I’ve done a lot of it. I know what makes me return to a place and I know when a backpacker is ready to spend $175 on a room. I know if it’s been freezing and not the optimum weather for visiting an area. And I know if regardless of these factors I would return in a heartbeat.It has everything to do with the hospitality that I am shown. John got it right. I will return to his B&B and therefore I will return to Niagara-on-the-Lake even though I’ve seen the falls, drunk the wine and witnessed the history of the area.So before you argue, they have Niagara Falls nearby to attract tourists, I say we have pink sand. Sure they have wineries. We have rum. They have history. Uh....of course we do. Sure people can drive to Niagara-on-the-Lake if they live nearby (ie Toronto). Otherwise it’s a flight and an hour-and-a-half drive. Bermuda? Well we’ve managed to fix our flights and it’s downright affordable to get here.The biggest hotel in Niagara-on-the-Lake? Well it certainly isn’t much bigger than 30 or 40 rooms (unless you count a conference resort outside of town, which has 220 rooms). Every other house, actually, seemed to be a bed and breakfast.So maybe Bermuda could learn a little something from Niagara-on-the-Lake.The area has clearly hit on what makes them work. They have marketed themselves as a quaint town with history, some culture (they have the Shaw Festival every year) and even wine tasting to boot. The only thing that fits that picture are bed and breakfasts. But even better for travellers with the B&Bs? They get to meet people who are from the area and get a first-hand account of what they should and should not do.Sure some people like anonymity and some of the services you get from a big hotel, but when the size of a place matters (ie 21 square miles) does that really make sense? And isn’t....hasn’t Bermuda always been about our people? So why not make it about our people again? Why not open our homes, bring back the B&Bs and make visitors repeaters?OK, B&Bs can’t fight for marketing dollars the same way Hiltons or Park Hyatts can, but when more and more people are turning to the web to book their housing, there is no need. Bonus if you can trackdown a celiac, travel writer who will promote you for no other reason then you made her a breakfast she could eat.So why are we not doing this in Bermuda? Why are we ignoring our greatest commodity in the tourism market: our people. Perhaps we need an Economic Empowerment Zone for new B&B owners? A tax break? Some incentive to invest in our tourist future? Just a thought. Like I said, I’m not an economist. Until next week au revoir.