Happy Easter Bermuda! Yes, that’s right, we’re way into the period of Lent! What did you give up for Lent this year?I would be remiss if I didn’t take yet another moment to thank our readers and those who choose to comment on The Royal Gazette’s various articles, whether it be by blog or Facebook. Everyone is entitled to their opinions and we are happy to provide you with this medium for self-expression.This week, as I’ve noticed American colleges and universities are celebrating Spring Break, I figure we will discuss one of my favourite topics tourism. The Bermuda Department of Tourism is to be commended for getting back into the Spring Break business. I’ve noticed a few college kids and high school children perambulating the Island and this can only be good news for Bermuda, Bermuda’s tourism industry and the future of both. More on this after the top 20.Up to #1 is Ni**as in Paris by Jay Z featuring Kanye West. I really detest the lyrics and use of the N word but the track does bang. Finally tumbling to #2 is Good Feeling by Florida, the same song as Levels by Avicii, huge, kicking and monster dance tracks.In a holding pattern at #3 is Turn Me On by David Guetta featuring Nicki Minaj, one of the hottest tracks in the world at the moment. Improving to #4 is Rack City by Tyga, a former essential new tune. Improving to #5 it’s Hangover by Taio Cruz featuring Florida.Slipping to #6 is We Found Love by Rihanna featuring Calvin Harris. Up to #7 is Dance (A$$) by Big Sean featuring Nicki Minaj. Falling to #8 is The One That Got Away by Katy Perry.Shifting gears back to dance music. Climbing to #9 is Hotel Nacional by the original Latina diva, Gloria Estefan. Falling to #9 is Rain Over Me, by Marc Anthony and Pitbull. Marc Anthony is funny, as are most Hollywood types.He’s allegedly angry because ex-wife J-Lo is said to be paying her new boy toy $10,000 per week so that the boy toy can sometimes pay the bill in public and surprise her with nice things. How ridiculous is that? She is giving him money so that she doesn’t have to pay in public. She’s still paying! Everybody knows that! He is, after all, a boy toy! Whatever!Improving to #11 is Someone Like You by Adele. A former essential new tune, International Love by Pitbull featuring Chris Brown, improves to #12. Tumbling to #13 is Without You by David Guetta featuring Usher.Up to #14 is Love On Top by Beyonce. Improving to #15 is The Motto by Drake featuring L’il Wayne. Sliding to #16 is Sexy And I Know It by LMFAO. Slipping to #17 is Mr Saxobeat by Alexandra Stan. Up to #18 is a former essential new tune, Stronger by Kelly Clarkson.Now this week’s essential new rocking dance track. In at # 19 it’s the monster pop dance hit from former boyfriend/girlfriend duo, Chris Brown and Rihanna Turn Up The Music. This track is HUGE. It’s a catchy, kicking track that will get you dancing.New at #20 is Take Care by Rihanna and Drake. I’ve been hearing this one in South Florida for months now and I’m shocked that it’s just getting love in Bermuda.Now back to this week’s topic: Spring Break. It’s about time we got back into the Spring Break business. Anybody who has ever been involved in the tourism business will tell you that we should never have gotten out of it. However, we did, we gave up, we gave in and lost serious ground.We have to accept that Bermuda cannot compete with the weather of warmer destinations including Florida (which is right in the USA and thus probably an easier and cheaper vacation). We cannot offer as much in terms of entertainment. We don’t have girls gone wild; we don’t have parties with 3000 people all having a blast. And yes, even with all of our problems, we are still somewhat a conservative destination.However, Bermuda still has much to offer and through the strategy of niche marketing we can actually carve out a bit of short-term and long-term tourism business, if we continue to target college kids.The benefits of having high school and college students come to Bermuda are obvious, many and well-documented. In short, history has proven that if we can get a college student to come to Bermuda and see all that our Country has to offer; there is a strong likelihood that they will return.In the past, students who came here for Spring Break often returned for their honeymoons, encouraged their children to spend their spring break in Bermuda, took vacations in Bermuda and contributed much to our economy and tourism industry during their lives. These people also often travelled with friends and extended family and/or encouraged these persons to also vacation in Bermuda.A lot of our previous repeat visitors have died off. It is obvious that we have fewer hotels. But, if we can create a vibrant tourism industry, if we can increase our number of land visitors as well as cruise visitors, businesses will see opportunity in Bermuda and then we will see new hotel developments because we definitely need more hotel beds.There is hope for our tourism industry; I see light at the end of the tunnel. However, we have to create the conditions such that hotels and ancillary businesses can make a profit. That means controlling and lowering wherever possible the cost of doing business. We should also relax our regulatory framework and/or find ways to cause the regulatory process to be much faster, less obstructive and less prohibitive to business development. At the moment the regulatory process in Bermuda is cumbersome, difficult, not user-friendly and certainly not in a space that encourages investment in Bermuda. We can fix this and we should.All in all, props to the Tourism Department for getting us back into the Spring Break Business. We need to grow our tourism business; we cannot rely solely on international business. We should also understand that tourism and international business are not separate entities fighting against one another. They are really one, inextricably linked to and dependent upon each other because they collectively form the Bermuda economy and we need both to thrive. Peace ...….DJLT.