December 10, 2001

Dear Sir,

During our recent biannual ten-day visit to Bermuda, we read, on December 6, of the proposed Bermuda Tourism database to be established.

We were appalled.

We visit Bermuda 20 days of the year to be "on vacation". This includes vacation from the daily pressures and invasions into our personal lives and time; including non-stop, persistent, annoying marketing from companies all vying for our hard-earned dollars. There are solicitors everywhere we turn . phone calls all during the day, e-mails wasting valuable space on our computers, junk mail cluttering our home. all designed to "cater to the individual needs of the consumer". Poppycock!

These intrusions are only designed to entice us to spend our money, but generally create quite the opposite effect. They

annoy us to such an extent as to keep us firmly set against the offending companies. You are on the verge of destroying what little escape there is in our world, making Bermuda less of the paradise it is.

Why not ask your devoted tourists how they feel about this database prior to implementation? Instead of positioning Bermuda as the world leader in privacy invasion, why not position Bermuda as an escape from Privacy Invasion! Why not just ask us what keeps us returning year after year. I will tell you. it's a "get away" from the daily grind. So please don't insist on bombarding us with more marketers.

I agree with some other suggestions, i.e.. to upgrade Bermuda's connections to the internet for business travellers, but for the rest of us, please try to remember what keeps Bermuda the tranquil slice of heaven it is. It's the friendly Bermuda faces, the beautiful scenery, the great food and beaches, the lack of crime, the birds, the golf courses, and the quiet. Bermuda should not be just another bothersome place. otherwise we might just as well stay home.

DEBORAH BURKE

Boston, Massachusetts