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Dodwell offers plan for City

The United Bermuda Party would close off Front Street to traffic and transform the waterfront area into a dining and entertainment hub, Shadow Tourism Minister David Dodwell said yesterday.

The party would also move the docks to the east end of the Island, and create a water sports centre at White's Island and use it for entertainment at night, he said.

Regenerating Hamilton would also include fully exploiting the cultural vibrancy of North Hamilton, he said during the debate on tourism in the House of Assembly.

"We would close off Front Street maybe between Parliament and Queen Street and move the freight to the east of the Island," said Mr. Dodwell.

"We would downsize the docks and eliminate storage at the docks with freight moved elsewhere.

"We would remove parking and shuttle people there and we would create theme park like dining, with everything from casual to five star dining in an improved Hamilton and an improved North Hamilton."

Other destinations around the world had been successfully regenerated into popular tourist attractions, and Bermuda desperately needed a kick-start to make it fun at night.

Tourism Minister Renee Webb said ideas such as this were being looked at by the public-private sector Bermuda Alliance for Tourism (BAT), although there was no guarantee they would be implemented.

"Clearly we are looking at that through BAT. The product development group is also looking at that," she said. "I am not saying we are necessarily going to adopt the suggestions. Some might be adopted, but we are looking at ways of improving the product."

Mr. Dodwell added: "We would make Hamilton a destination within a destination. Bermuda would be the destination and Hamilton would be a must place to go. "White's Island could be a water sports location, with music, fireworks and dining at night and (we could ferry people) in water taxis. We have got to make Bermuda fun at night and during the day."

Mr. Dodwell pledged the UBP would create a new tourism authority within six months of taking office and would establish a Department of Tourism and Economic Development.

Destinations around the world were doing establishing independently-run authorities because tourism professionals and the private sector were best placed to run the industry, he said.

This would speed up hotel development by cutting through the red tape which was chasing away investors, he said.

It would be almost self-financing, taking in revenue from tourism, topped up by contributions from the private sector.

Bermuda Alliance for Tourism went some way towards that, but it couldn't do the job properly because it only had a budget of $350,000. After three years, the organisation still didn't have a director or headquarters.

He accused Government of paying "lip service" to sharing with the private sector and said hoteliers had complained that Government didn't really want to share.

Mr. Dodwell said the UBP would also capitalise more on St. George's status as a World Heritage site and maximise Dockyard's potential.

While Government was spending 85 percent of the $35 million budget on marketing, this was pointless unless the product was right.

And although visitors appreciated the friendliness of Bermudians, this did not always translate into good service. The 2000 visitor exit survey showed only 52 percent of visitors thought they got good value for money.

He called for the mystery shopper who checked in unannounced at hotels to be reinstated so that the industry could find out how well it was doing and establish a benchmark.

The number of cruise ship passengers, which Mr. Dodwell said was one third of all arrivals last year, was out of balance, noting they spend a fraction of what air visitors do.

Tourism under the PLP had been a failure, he said. Bed nights were down 20 percent since 1998, air arrivals off 23 per cent, and occupancy and visitor spending also in decline.

"Tourism isn't buoyant. No one in their right mind would say it is buoyant. We can't continue to say it, we have to be honest and say it isn't working," said Mr. Dodwell.

There was a "crisis of confidence" in tourism, and not all destinations had slumped after the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Bermuda had to regain its tourist foundation to ensure Bermudians gained well-paid jobs in the industry. And he warned that Bermuda was developing an "unhealthy dependence" on international business.

Developing an air strategy should be Government's number one challenge, and the Island had to be constantly "in the face" of carriers to persuade them to increase lift to Bermuda.

And he said Government should subsidise airlines to ensure they increase lift, which, he said was done in other areas such as the Caribbean.

The UBP would take $5 million from the current marketing budget and spend it on an on-Island blitz to ensure all residents are aware of the importance of tourism to the economy, using personalities in the industry.

The party would create economic enterprise zones to encourage Bermudians into business.

Despite PLP election promises to improve entertainment, nothing had been done, except provide music at the airport, he argued.

Mr. Dodwell said it was a "smoke screen" for the PLP to claim the Hotel Concessions Act had saved the hotel industry when a major part of the legislation, duty relief, had been in place since 1991.

Tourism Board chairman and PLP MP Delaey Robinson objected, said this attracted very little investment, but Mr. Dodwell insisted it spurred a lot of hotel investment.