". . . Bermudians have constructed a society of durable harmony out of the aesthetic values of tourism. For tourist and Bermudian alike, Bermuda has proved 'another world'. Above all, the challenge for Bermudians today is to preserve the 'very unique' nature of their land, to ensure that the Gulf Stream separates them to some extent from the homogenising pressures of modern global, consumerist culture. If Bermudians surrender, or fail to find a formula for accommodating change that preserves their society's uniqueness, they will cease to occupy 'another world'. And the world will be a poorer place for it."

¿ Duncan McDowall, Another World, Bermuda and the Rise of Modern Tourism, 1999

As should have been expected, if unpredicted by insiders, insurance companies and other corporate entities with Bermuda connections have been going through a rough patch, much of which is associated with the quicksand swamp of the "sub-prime" financial crisis in our great neighbour to the west.

It would appear that natural disasters, such as Hurricanes Andrew and Katrina, were of little consequence in comparison to the tsunami of debt and defaults created by over-the-top borrowing by home owners and greed in the banking and mortgage sectors. One does wonder if this plague of biblical proportions will be much visited upon Bermuda, where over-building, if not over-borrowing, seems the highest of local financial fashions.

At the end of the day, or month, or year, the individual consequences of such financial woes come home to roost, or rather in many instances, come to rest in the street as the home has been "re-possessed" by the bank. In the prime of life, some are also losing their jobs in Bermuda and elsewhere in the post sub-prime world, which should be reason to reflect upon the economic underpinnings of the island.

The enduring foundation of the economy of Bermuda since the early 1950s is the business of tourism. Tourism is apparently the largest international business, but even semantically in Bermuda, it has been relegated to the back seats by the use of "international business" to refer only to the money markets of insurance, trusts and other "captive" financial operations on the island. It is fair to say that those working in tourism are generally "disrespected", if considered at all, and that the deterioration of pride and interest in that essential business began when the glitter of the instant gold of international business bedazzled the Government and some leaders several decades ago.

Indeed, the phrase apparently attributed to one leader that we were now to be called "Bermuda, Inc." ¿ in other words, a purely corporate place-contrasted sadly, if prophetically, with our former iconic reference as the "Isle of Rest", a haven for wealthy visitors who took only of our climate, but left the funding that supported generations of Bermudians.

Tourism is a long-term enterprise; it is not "easy money", to quote the Geiko Lizard. In infrastructure and human resources, tourism needs years to establish and more to become successful. It includes long hours, many being "unsocial" in modern parlance, a constantly upbeat mode of operating and a financial reward scale that falls below, and in many cases far below, the rewards given to those in international financial businesses.

According to Professor Duncan McDowall in his seminal book, Another World, tourism at Bermuda began slowly in the last few decades of the 1800s. Among other luminaries, Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) often visited and "more than any other person in the late 19th century, Twain would help to turn Bermuda's image in North American eyes from that of a vegetable garden into a playground for relaxation". Restrictive US import duties had all but destroyed Bermuda's role as the winter garden for New York, and Bermudians turned to tourism in a bigger way at that time.

One Bermudian who was an early promoter and active participant in the early years of tourism at Bermuda was A. Emelius Outerbridge, who established himself as a travel agent in New York. Mr. Outerbridge and I crossed paths some years ago, when a friend drove me to Long Island in the dead of a snowbound winter to see one of his descendants, who donated papers and photographs to the Maritime Museum.

Later, on a chance visit to the New York Yacht Club in concrete-bound Manhattan, I spotted a photo album labelled "Bermuda", on display, almost in anticipation of my appearance. The Librarian kindly allowed Sheryl Shane and I to re-photograph the album, the copy is now in the Museum collections.

It is presumed that the album was one of a number that Outerbridge had placed at various locations in Manhattan, as advertisement for potential visitors to Bermuda. Emelius eventually had an office at the famous Pier 47, from whence early tourism ships departed New York for Bermuda. The photographs show that the selling point for Bermuda was its built heritage and environmental ambience.

Writing to The Royal Gazette in July 1884, Outerbridge explained the development of New York Mail Steam Service to Bermuda from 1873. Before that date, a mere dozen "first-class passengers" shipped out to Bermuda on a regular basis, but that increased "manifold", when the Quebec Steam Ship Company (for which he was the New York Agent) took over the route and started, with the Canima, to produce more tourist accommodation onboard: and so quality tourism began.

Calling, as we are today, for more "accommodation on shore" for 1,000 visitors, he ends by hoping that the "Steam Bill" before the Legislature would require vessels to have high standard quarters for visitors. This wish was eventually to find echo in the outstanding and unique accommodations on the Furness Lines vessels, the Monarch of Bermuda, the Queen of Bermuda and the Ocean Monarch, the "millionaires' ships" that helped to make Bermuda the premier island destination for tourists from the 1930s onwards.

Among the Outerbridge papers is an uncashed cheque for one cent, which Emelius titled and framed as a timeless memento to the character of bureaucracy, so presumably he added a fine sense of humour to his other talents as a long-time Bermuda Tourism Agent in New York.

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Dr. Edward Harris, MBE, JP, FSA, Bermudian, is the Executive Director of the Bermuda Maritime Museum. This article represents his opinions and not necessarily those of persons associated with the Museum. Comments can be sent to drharrislogic.bm or by telephone to 332-5480.