Well my prayers and wishes for Cleveland County's success in the Eastern Counties Cup Competition were not answered. However, I am and we were gracious in defeat. Congratulations to Bailey's Bay on a well-earned and deserved victory. They were the better team. However, I was impressed and encouraged by the abundance of youth that we have in Harris' Bay. If we can keep this team together for the next 10 years, we will win back and keep the cup and always be serious contenders for many years to come. This is the way things used to be; which leads us to our topic for this week the way tourism used to be and can be again, if we are all willing to do certain things and have a culture shift back to our ways of old. More on this after we look at the top 20.Holding at #1 is Just Can't Get Enough by the Black Eyed Peas. Jumping to #3 is Judas by Lady Gaga, the diva of the moment. You have to like her unmatched and most original manner of dress, presentation and presence. She has what my boy Charles Barkley calls IT. Wherever she is, you'll find the paparazzi and the reporters.Easing on up to #3 is Give Me Everything by Pitbull, Neo, AfroJack & Nayer. Improving to #4 is Taio Cruz's current hit I'm Loving You Tonight. Up to #5 is Beautiful People by Chris Brown featuring Benny Benassi. Slipping to #6 is 6 Foot 7 Foot by L'il Wayne featuring Cory Gunz.Improving to #7 its Motivation by Kelly Rowland featuring L'il Wayne. Down at #8 is Till The World Ends by Britney Spears. Slipping to #9 is Look At Me Now by Chris Brown featuring L'il Wayne and Busta Rhymes. Walking by Mary Mary tumbles to #10. Tumbling to #11 is Born This Way by Lady Gaga.Making a run for the top at #12 is Run The World (Girls) by Beyonce. Tripping to #13 is Rihanna's current hit, S&M.Falling to #14 is ET by Katy Perry featuring Kanye West.And now, one of the hottest tunes of the year. Last week's essential new jam, Party Rock Anthem by LMFAO featuring Lauren Bennett & GoonRock, advances to #15. Slipping into the #16 spot is Higher, by Taio Cruz featuring Kylie Minogue and Travie McCoy.Up to #17 is Last Friday (TGIF) by Katy Perry. Slipping to #18 is Moment For Life by Nicki Minaj. You have to hear her CD; it is loaded with hits.Now this week's essential new tune. In at #19 it's Rolling In The Deep by Adelle. I didn't like this track initially but its grown on me. New at #20 is I'm Into You by Jennifer Lopez featuring L'il Wayne. Her new CD is hot.Now back to this week's topic the way our tourism industry used to be and can be again, IF!Earlier this week I was dropping my wife off to a breakfast meeting at Fairmont Hamilton Princess. It was pouring and there were no taxis. After opening the door for the Mrs, the doorman asked me if I would drop some guests off who needed a taxi and wanted to get into Hamilton for work/meetings. I said ‘yes' without hesitation. As I was leaving with my new friends, the doorman asked me if I would come back and take some more, because there were still no taxis.So I had a four-minute exchange with the three executives as I drove them to their meetings, in my personal vehicle. After dropping them off, the man in the group offered to pay me. I refused and said absolutely not, again without hesitation.This is the point Bermuda! I didn't do that for money. I didn't do it so that I'd have something to write about this week. It was an instinctive, reflex response, born out of genuine care and love for our tourism industry and an understanding of what we are supposed to do to support the efforts of those who market and administer our tourism industry.The main point that I want people to take from this, is that until the other 64,999 local residents get this, or get the memo that I got, or somehow start doing the little things like what I did earlier this week, not for pay, but because we care, our tourism industry will never improve.We can spend $40 million a year or $80,000 a year marketing Bermuda; but until people individually start giving visitors a real Bermuda experience from a real, genuine, kind, caring Bermudian, on a one on one basis, the business will not improve.It doesn't matter what colour shorts we place in the adverts, it doesn't matter which schoolteacher's voice we use for the sound, it doesn't matter if we use pictures from Bermuda or stock photos from a marketing firm's library of pictures; until we start giving visitors that good old fashioned Bermudian, friendly, customer service, with assistance, recommendations and a genuine desire to help them, we will not generate additional visitors or increase visitor spending or length of stay.I accept that we also have to give them more to do after dinner, by way of enhanced night-time entertainment options; but submit that this is where the effort needs to go; in developing a genuine care and concern for our visitors which will require a complete culture and paradigm shift for many of us.Years ago we were more patient with visitors. Nowadays we honk at them if they're riding too slowly on the roads. These are just little things we do which show that we have a long way to go in improving the manner in which we treat our visitors.If we can fix how we treat our visitors and go back to the way we used to be, all the other efforts, like marketing, seat sales, discounts, will be more successful but less necessary. Bermuda will essentially sell itself; because Bermudians will be selling Bermuda, every day, in every way, wherever they go, whatever they do! If we as Bermuda residents don't do this; nothing else we try will ever improve our tourism business. Peace.…..DJLT!