Nearly 100 stakeholders in the tourism industry came together on Friday to listen the Secretary General of the Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO) share his views on tourism and the future of tourism in the Caribbean.

Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace told delegates that the approach to tourism development in the Caribbean and the thinking of the so-called experts all appeared to be enamoured of fancy advertising campaigns which were easy to change instead of focusing on the delivery of quality products and quality experience.

Tourists, he said, no longer bought a holiday, but an experience, adding ?it?s the experience, stupid?.

But, the experience and the product have to improve to match the price the tourists are having to pay.

He challenged delegates to stop evaluating the success of the industry through visitor headcount, which he described as one of the worst ways to measure the state of the local tourism industry.

?We have to speak about tourism and measure tourism success in economic terms,? he said, adding that it was important for the private and public sectors to unite and co-ordinate approaches to the development of the tourism product.

Promoting the idea of a private-public sector partnership, he said governments did not control most of what the visitor pays for.

?Visitors only care about the quality of their products and services and they don?t care which sector is responsible for its delivery,? he said.

He said tourism development cannot be anything other than a private-public partnership.

Mr. Vanderpool-Wallace stressed the visitor is interested in the total experience, and does not compartmentalise the services provided by the hotel, restaurant or taxi from the infrastructure and services, like the roads, for which the Government is responsible.

?The goal must be quality service for the total visitor experience.

?And Bermuda needs to establish an understanding that tourism is the one industry in which all citizens are involved and a single encounter with any visitor by anyone can determine whether that visitor would recommend you to a friend or not,? he said.

Giving a definition of tourism, he said the tourism industry is an expanded collection of existing businesses that are integrated and consolidated primary to serve large numbers of visitors with a high propensity to spend on specific necessities, experiences and activities.

?There is no industry on earth that delivers a kind of diverse benefits to the economy like tourism,? he said, adding that it is and should be used as an economic development tool.

Mr. Vanderpool-Wallace challenged delegates to re-evaluate the status quo.

?We must work hard to extinguish tourism-led initiatives that don?t result in increased foreign exchange, increased employment, poverty reduction, improved reputation and stronger economic images.?

And if Bermuda can?t do anything about basic costs, he said the Island simply had to deliver an unforgettable experience, something which will ?lure? potential visitors to our shores.

Some of the ways to lure visitors back to our shores, he said included developing the tourism website to allow visitors to not only reserve their hotel rooms online, but also day trips like boat rentals, restaurant reservations and immigration and customs forms ? which would allow Government to keep a record of each and every visitor to Bermuda.

On the private sector, he said, hotels could organise assigned taxi drivers for particular guests and this way greet the guest by name on arrival.

?Anything to make them feel special,? he said, adding that most guests dreaded arriving somewhere and having to deal with front desk.

He said since the hotel already had most of the information about guests from the online booking, guests could be escorted directly to a rooms.

In hotel rooms, he said, there could be a greeting by the Minister of Tourism on the TV set.

Visitors should also be able to purchase Bermudian branded items, not only at the Airport, but also online once they got home.

?What about a video e-mail from the Minister of Tourism thanking them for visiting Bermuda ... it?s a nice touch.?