April 1, 2011Dear Sir,Please be so kind as to publish the following letter to the attention of Mr. Raymond Ray of St. George’s.Mr. Raymond Ray,While I agree with the content of your letter of March 21, 2011 with regard the lack of ads by the Bermuda Department of Tourism, I take grave issue with your statement that countries like the Bahamas are far worse off “economically than us”. and “They are way behind Bermuda”.I would be very interested to know what facts you are using to support these statements. I have lived in the Bahamas for 14 years and I can tell you that while there certainly is poverty in the Bahamas just as there is poverty in Bermuda, don’t believe me, ask those who are living in cars, the average Bahamian is not worse off than the average Bermudian. The Bahamas as a country is not worse off than Bermuda, certain not from a debt to population perspective. The average Bahamian owns his/her own home, has more than one vehicle for use by occupants of the home, pays his/her bills on time and travels just as often and as far as the average Bermudian, is putting his/her children through school and the list goes on.The Bahamas is the only Caribbean country that regularly purchases ad time during the Super Bowl and that is because the Bahamas is the leading tourist destination in the region, welcoming 5 million tourist last year, which means the income earned from tourism (departure tax, hotel room tax, cruise tax, etc) can more than pay for a Super Bowl ad as it equates to about $0.20 (I believe a Super Bowl 30 second spot goes for $1 million) for each tourist that visits the Bahamas.So before you make such ascertains please check your facts and not use assumptions. Besides making such statements does nothing to support your argument.GUILDEN M GILBERT JRNassau, Bahamas