Welcome once again to Chairman’s Corner, my regular update on the activities of the Bermuda Tourism Authority.

Today, and over the next couple of weeks, I will be discussing the three divisions of the Authority: Product & Experiences, Investment and Sales & Marketing.

This week I will focus on the Product & Experience Development Division as it is brand new and has a vital role to perform. The status quo is no longer good enough. Bermuda must raise its competitive edge by improving our product and offering experiences that make us a truly unique and memorable destination for our visitors and the new Product and Experience Development Division will lead this charge.

The primary focus of the Product & Experience Development division is to develop both core and complementary products and service offerings. Our core products include cultural tourism, sports tourism and business tourism. The complementary products we plan to focus on are nautical tourism, leisure and entertainment, cruise tourism and eco tourism. The development of these products and services is necessary in order to increase the overall attractiveness and competitiveness of Bermuda as a tourism destination, strengthen tourism demand and reduce seasonality.

As outlined in the National Tourism Plan (see www.bermudatourism.com), the seven core and complementary tourism products will be organised into five tourism hubs across the island. These five hubs are St George’s & St David’s, City of Hamilton, South Shore Bermuda, the Royal Naval Dockyard and Offshore Bermuda.

The work undertaken by the Product & Experience Development division to attain its goals will be varied. We will be assessing what Bermuda has to offer now and comparing it with what our research shows the people who we wish to attract to Bermuda are looking for and then developing a strategy to fulfil these aspirations through the enhancement of our current products and the creation of new offerings. We’ll be looking at everything from heritage and cultural sites, museums to cultural exhibits and experiences and activities for our guests and developing a plan for how existing experiences can be improved, or new ones created, to the level that today’s traveller expects.

This division will also look at standards on the island and develop a quality management system for improving the experience for our visitors. This will include everything from accommodation to restaurants to spas, anything where there is interaction between visitors and Bermuda. We will also be looking at the physical environment (parks, beaches, etc) and how these can be improved to enhance the visitor experience. And, this division will also be looking at development opportunities for those who work in the industry and developing a tourism training plan that will help Bermuda to improve its service levels.

The Product & Experience Development Division will be tasked with reviewing co-funding options, grants or new financial models to encourage local Bermudian entrepreneurs interested in developing Bermuda’s products and experiences.

We at the Bermuda Tourism Authority aim to enhance what Bermuda already has and also create new attractions and experiences for new and returning visitors and in doing so, providing jobs, investment opportunities and numerous other benefits for Bermudians. But it will take a great deal of work and we need everyone to be involved.