Those who don’t know history are doomed to repeatedly miss its opportunities.

In Bermuda’s case, our general lack of familiarity with our Island’s long story has repeatedly undercut efforts to put the Island on the map as a cultural tourism destination.

A hundred years ago William Howard Taft, the only man to ever serve as both President and Chief Justice of the United States, said of Bermuda that never in history had a country so small played such a disproportionately large role in world affairs.

And he was only exaggerating the case very slightly.

A natural mid-Atlantic crossroads and what Winston Churchill once called “a vital pillar in the bridge” linking the Old World to the New, from the earliest days of settlement Bermuda’s history has always overlapped with events and developments taking place far from our shores.

Thanks to geography and the pioneering efforts of Bermudian shipbuilders and sailors who helped to knit the various Atlantic maritime communities together with their fleet of sloops, the Island was perfectly positioned to play pivotal roles in everything from America’s effort to win Independence from Britain to its much later quest to land a man on the Moon.

The 400-year Bermuda odyssey has been occasionally punctuated by periods which have been quite as picaresque and preposterous as others have been safely predictable.

For instance during the so-called Golden Age of Piracy, Bermudian buccaneers from across the Island’s racial and cultural spectrum stalked the seas.

The 1693 capture of a treasure ship belonging to the Great Moghul of India’s fleet in the Red Sea by a vessel manned by Bermudians remains one of the richest prizes ever to fall victim to the sharp-end of a freebooter’s sword.

And Blackbeard, by far the most notorious cut-throat of that era, captained a classic Bermuda sloop during his final exploits and counted Bermudians among his crew.

But Bermuda’s role in that colourful epoch of swashbucklers and sea-dogs goes largely unmarked locally except for some displays at the National Museum, the name of an East End restaurant and as the theme for a recently opened floating bar.

And it rarely features in the tourism industry’s promotional and marketing efforts at all.

So this week’s announcement that St George’s will play host to members of the Sons & Daughters of the American Revolution in August for events marking the 140th anniversary of Bermuda’s Gun Powder Plot marks a welcome departure from our customary indifference.

Celebrating – and actively championing – Bermuda’s historical and cultural ties with its large neighbour (and chief tourism catchment area) holds major potential for a still-struggling hospitality sector.

A new marketing strategy which includes some focus on these facets of Bermuda’s past could open us up to a fast-growing and much coveted niche market of traveller.

For to a certain travelling demographic, the upcoming Bermuda Gunpowder Plot event is the very stuff of vacation dreams.

Even one whiff of the newly-opened-time-capsule aroma which clings to this type of activity can be sufficient to set the well-heeled American history buffs’ glands tingling – and their hands reaching for their wallets.

And this is a demographic Bermuda is desperate to attract.

Younger, wealthier and more educated than most travellers, the audience for cultural heritage tourism generates millions of dollars for destination communities in spending on shopping, food, lodging and other expenses.

This is attributable, in part, to the fact that cultural/heritage trips are significantly longer than most vacations, likely to last seven nights or more.

According to the Travel Industry Association of America, more than half of the US adult population now says it is interested in including at least one arts, humanities, historic or heritage activity or event on their vacation itineraries.

One quarter of these cultural travellers, representing the high income end of the market, take three or more of these trips per year.

Historic/cultural travel volume has continued to grow significantly over the past decade and its benefits for a destination like Bermuda, including the possibility for economic diversification and the preservation of our unique characteristics and customs, are self-evident.Bermuda’s well maintained fortifications represent a treasure trove for students of military history in general and those with specialised interests in conflicts ranging from the Anglo-American War of 1812 to the Second World War.

The Town of St George, declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO but never properly positioned as a potential world-class attraction like Dockyard, is a pristine living outdoor history and cultural museum, encompassing the whole sweep of both our development as well as that of the Atlantic maritime world.

And the Island and its charms have been celebrated in verse by Shakespeare and Tom Moore, inspired prose by the likes of Mark Twain, Eugene O’Neill and Ian Fleming and been depicted in widely admired canvases by artists including Winslow Homer, Georgia O’Keefe and Andrew Wyeth.

So there’s certainly no shortage of arts, humanities, historic or heritage-related activities we could develop to target the cultural tourism market.

Nor are there any excuses any more for not doing so.

Hopefully, the commemoration of the audacious 1775 theft of the entire British supply of black powder on the Island to replenish the Continental Army’s depleted stocks will be used as a test case for future efforts in this field. For our diminished hospitality sector has reached the point where we can no longer afford not to know our history and the attendant possibilities it might hold for Bermuda tourism.