A tireless promoter of the island’s image as a tourism destination went on to become one of the architects behind a massive sailing event to commemorate the turn of the millennium.

Carol Wills, known throughout her career for being meticulously organised, kept busy next with the Corporation of Hamilton before she was ready for retirement.

Organised by the International Sail Training Association in conjunction with the American Sail Training Association, Tall Ships 2000 proved a formidable undertaking entailing hundreds of volunteers, with preparations dating back to 1996 — when it caught Ms Wills’s attention at what was then the Department of Tourism.

Ms Wills joined the project team at the time, and segued into her role as its event co-ordinator when she retired from the department as assistant director.

The fleet headed out from Europe in the spring of 2000 with thousands of trainees.

The ships set off on a race to arrive in Bermuda for early summer, continuing on to a series of North American destinations before sailing back across the Atlantic.

Organisation at the Bermuda end required a dedicated company to manage the event for the Department of Tourism. Ms Wills was capably up for the task.

Her daughter, Jennifer Cordeiro, described her as “one of those people who was happy to support everyone — she didn’t want to be centre stage”.

“She was special that way. She liked to be the support team and help everyone else reach their potential.”

Ms Cordeiro added that her mother, a theatre lover, met her father through the Bermuda Musical and Dramatic Society, and in particular a production of Kiss Me, Kate that brought several couples together.

Ms Wills also had a son, Philip.

Her civil service career began with a secretarial job in the Trade Development Board, run by Sir Henry Vesey and tasked with burnishing and maintaining the island’s image as a top destination for visitors.

The board swung into its role shortly after the Second World War, when tourism took off and everything from Bermuda's image to its hotels underwent a sea change.

Ms Wills switched over to the Cabinet Office where she became the Information Officer, but returned to the Department of Tourism in 1973 as manager of Information Services.

Speaking to The Royal Gazette on her retirement in 1999, Ms Wills recalled: “I did all of the literature, brochures and updates and designing and so forth — and I also did hotel inspections, so I had dual responsibilities.”

Tourism was based in a Front Street office but moved to Global House on Church Street in the early 1980s.

With the switch, Ms Wills became assistant director of administration and “took over all sorts of things“.

She recalled: “There was never a dull moment. I was still responsible for hotel inspecting and licensing, and I also worked with all the cruise ships and did a little scheduling and applications.

“I was there for 32 years, but I never felt like I had just one job because it was always different and that's why I stayed for so long.”

Ms Wills made a speciality of maintaining the focus on what visitors expected from a high-end destination — and she predicted changes coming to the industry, such as the rise of the condominium hotel.

She went on to be co-ordinator for Tall Ships 2000 because “I really wanted to go out and do something different”, she told the Gazette.

Once the ships had sailed, Ms Wills continued running matters — this time as a project co-ordinator for the Corporation of Hamilton.

Lawson Mapp, who served as mayor from 2000 to 2006, said she was a master of efficiency.

He said: “She had worked for tourism and very much knew the government departments. We could always go to her, especially if we needed information.”

Caroline Faehnle Lee Wills, a top tourism official, was born on February 3, 1943. She died in December 2024, aged 81