Reviving Bermuda?s status as a tourism destination renowned for its high standard of friendliness and service will require getting the importance of tourism back into the ?hearts and minds? of every Bermudian and showing them how they can give an exceptional experience to all visitors.

Such a holistic approach is the way forward in the view of hotelier and Shadow Tourism Minister David Dodwell, and he says it will have more impact than any amount of hotel inspections and rating programmes.

School children of all ages should be educated to understand the importance of tourism to the Island and the country?s history as a stand-out destination for friendliness and service, according to Mr. Dodwell, who is managing director of The Reefs resort in Southampton.

While welcoming Deputy Premier Dr. Ewart Brown?s latest tourism message, which includes pledges for more thorough hotel inspections and licensing along with the introduction of the American Automobile Association rating system, he said there needs to be a far bigger focus on the quality of service that visitors enjoy when they come to the Island.

And he is not only talking about the service they get at their hotel, but also the service they encounter using taxis and buses, going to restaurants and shops and at visitor attractions.

?I would like to have that understood so we can take it to another level and say the product is not only about the physical side it is about service. And what are we doing as a destination to improve our service?? said Mr. Dodwell.

?It is not just hotels. It?s golf, water sports, it?s transportation, anything that the customer uses as a service on the Island. We need to get the importance of tourism back into the hearts and minds of every Bermudian and resident on this Island.

?I think to some degree we have lost it and what the United Bermuda Party would do immediately upon becoming Government would be to inject significant funding into the whole subject of tourism appreciation.?

That funding would go into schools at every level to teach the young about tourism and the importance of service, said Mr. Dodwell.

He would like to see a rebuilding of the Visitor Industry Partnership so that it works in a similar fashion as the Bermuda International Business Association but promoting tourism rather than business in the wider community.

?We don?t do it enough. I have urged this for the past seven years to the PLP. It is great talking about marketing and the airlines and hotel inspections and investment but if we don?t have the foundation right and have everyone onboard, understanding why we need to make tourism work, then we are not utilising our investment effectively,? said the UBP MP.

?I?m not opposed to the hotel inspections. I want it expanded beyond just the physical inspection of a hotel because there is a lot more to a hotel than a guest room or dining room, there is a soul to a hotel.

?You could have a physically, four diamond hotel but with poor service and have a physically, three diamond hotel with great service and the three diamond hotel would be busier.?

He added: ?We need to get into the service side more.

?We in Bermuda have a great deal of difficulty admitting that we don?t compete as well as we should do on service.

?We don?t have enough of that competitive edge that says we really have to get our service back up.?