This summer, a 23-year-old Bermudian received a first hand look at island tourism, on the busy streets of New York City.

Dalhousie University student, Sarah Taylor, was one of twelve Bermudians awarded summer internships by the Bermuda Department of Tourism. Miss Taylor, also the winner of the David Allen Memorial Scholarship, was sent abroad to the Department of Tourism's New York public relations firm, Lou Hammond & Associates, an agency that prides itself on “creative, value-driven” campaigns. Miss Taylor spent two months in New York City learning about the public relations side of tourism.

“The internship was a great experience,” said Miss Taylor, shortly before returning to Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada for her third year in the Bachelor of Arts programme at Dalhousie. “It was amazing the amount that I got to learn about the industry, not only about tourism, but also about public relations.”

Miss Taylor said, as a Bermudian, she was very curious to know what went on behind the scenes to promote the Island, because very often, there is a lot of negativity about local tourism.

“Tourism is a hot issue in Bermuda,” she said. “I thought it was a great opportunity. I have to say that I was very impressed with what I saw.”

The offices of Lou Hammond were located in the heart of the city on 51st Street between Madison and Park Avenue. For a girl from a small island like Bermuda, life in the ‘Big Apple' was daunting. “I had been to New York before, but never for longer than a week,” Miss Taylor said. “I have to admit that the first few days were a little bit disconcerting. The first couple of days, I was getting to know the subway systems really well. As soon as I got that down, I loved it.

During the internship, Miss Taylor was allowed to be an intricate part of the Lou Hammond team. “It was great,” she said. “There is the creative side of public relations where you are brainstorming and trying to come up with new concepts and ideas and getting Bermuda out there. Then there is also the logistical side of things when you are getting journalists out on press trips. You have to make sure that the press clippings are in order. I did learn a lot from the people out there.”

Miss Taylor particularly enjoyed helping out with the promotion of the upcoming Bermuda Music Festival. To do this, a special contest was held in the United States called the ‘Bermuda Sexiest Vocalist Jazz Competition'. “They had this at a number of jazz clubs in our feeder markets,” said Miss Taylor. “People would get up and have an amount of time to sing and there would be a panel of judges. The contest is partnered with radio stations.

“The radio station would tell their listeners to go to a certain location and try out for the competition to win a free trip to Bermuda. It was getting the word out there. I was involved in the organisation of the event. It was fun, but not too much fun until it was all over, but it was a great experience.”

Although Miss Taylor spent most of her time working with Lou Hammond & Associates, she also spent a week going to other agencies in New York involved in Bermuda tourism including the Bermuda sales office, the media planning group, and the advertising agency. She said that although many Bermudians do not have a lot of confidence in Bermuda tourism, she thinks it is on the upswing.

“The numbers are up for July from last year, for example,” she said. “Things are going well. In the next few years we are really going to see some positive improvements. “Another thing that will really help us move on in the future is getting young, educated Bermudians interested in tourism again.”

She said many young people her age are afraid to study tourism, because they think they won't have a job when they come out of university. “There is this perception that tourism isn't really going anywhere,” she said. “They think that if they want to be on the island insurance or reinsurance would be a better option. I really think that within the next few years there will be another tourism boom.”

Miss Taylor said that everything comes back to public perception. “There is a balance,” she said. “Public perception has to be good in order for the hotels to be open. Hotels are only open when there is good perception.”

She said she doesn't know yet if she will go into tourism as a career. “It is too soon to tell,” she said. “There is so much out there. You have to soak in as much as you can before you know what you are going to do. After this, I definitely will keep the tourism option open. Before I come back to the island after graduation, I think it is important for me to go elsewhere, go overseas and get some experience and bring that back to the island.”

She decided that she was interested in the public relations arena when she first started at Dalhousie University. “I have always had an interest in sales, marketing and public relations,” she said. “I think it is a fascinating field. As a university student it is your responsibility to know what your options are. You have to research a lot of different fields and find out what they are about. Sales and marketing was just something that appealed to me.”

Miss Taylor previously attended the Bermuda High School for Girls and is the daughter of Lynne Holmes and Gary Taylor. Other Department of Tourism interns were sent to Boston, Massachusetts; Baltimore, Maryland; Toronto, Canada; and Atlanta, Georgia, among other places.

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To find out more about the Department of Tourism's internship programmes, contact the them at 292-0023.