revive the Island's tourism industry.

However the challenge was to now get everyone working together to solve the problems facing the industry, Tourism Minister David Dodwell told The Royal Gazette .

The Boston-based Monitor Company released its latest findings and a 12-step action plan last week.

"Overall these guys have done a tremendous job of getting people together to analyse the problem and work together,'' said Mr. Dodwell.

"What we have to do now as a Government and private sector is recommit ourselves to tourism in every single thing that we say and do.

"The success of the tourism industry will allow us to do all the other things for our people that we want to do. Without it we will be challenged for a long time.'' He stressed that what Monitor could do now was what made it valuable.

"We did not want another report to sit on the shelf and what we have is a process and an entity who will help us manage it,'' he said. "What Monitor will do is not just tell us what needs to be done but also how to do it.'' Its immediate challenge is to communicate its vast amount of new found knowledge to the Island in a series of public forums slated for the second week of September.

"I would call upon organisations to start sharing their thoughts and information with their people and open the channels of discussion.'' He said he felt confident that Monitor would tackle the challenge. It had already proven it could do what other organisations would find difficult.

"The excitement I feel is that this entity has gone out into the community and has started to build a shared vision. They have gone into areas most people would have found difficult to get into.

"One thing about having a third party involved is that they do not bring any form of bias to the discussion table and therefore can help reduce the defensiveness people and organisations feel.

"Quite often the thinking amongst entities in Bermuda is similar but the way they wish to achieve their identical goals is different.

"This is because they each have an agenda and they think their solution is the best for everybody. Monitor do not bring an agenda to the bargaining table and they have no bias.

"They are in a position where they can almost force change.'' he pointed out.

"That is what this is all about -- transition and change. We had it good for so long that it was easy for us to resist change.

"Our expanding tourism could not go on any further once the community took its eye off the ball and the world around us became more competitive. It is no longer good enough to say we have nice beaches, clean streets and friendly people, we have to do better than that. Bermuda used to be unique and that allowed us to be competitive. Being different again will allow us to raise our sights.'' Here was an opportunity for the whole Island to be part of a solution, he said.

"The notion of `just do this and everything will be fine' has been proven wrong. The issues facing tourism are not simple problems, they are complex.

This is what one has to recognise.

"The fact that they are complex means everyone is a stakeholder and they need to be involved in the decision making process.'' This hinged on people getting a "piece of the pie''.

"The pie has gotten smaller and everyone wants a piece of it. What we must do is create wealth and benefits so we can increase the size of the pie and then share it accordingly. This idea of everyone getting a pick is what Monitor will also bring to the table.'' Mr. Dodwell said an example of this was in transportation, which was run by Government and private agencies.

"We need a flexible and fully integrated transport system that is customer focused, but think about it. Is it Government's job to do this? No. Is it the private sector's sole responsibility? No.

"Why not work out a way where the two can work together better. That is where I see an entity like Monitor being able to bring a resolution on how to implement their ideas to the table.'' Public and private sectors could also work together in the area of developing human capital.

Monitor had targeted this as needing improvement if Bermuda was to be successful in the long term.

"People always talk about the product needing improvement and I consider the product to include facilities, activities and service.

"I have always advocated Bermudians going abroad for training. I see it as a benefit.'' Mr. Dodwell suggested companies could be rewarded for sending Bermudians abroad for training by allowing them to have a work permit for a replacement staff member.

"That way they could bring in knowledgeable people to impart their knowledge here while sending Bermudians abroad to train. They would return fully trained and ready to take their rightful positions.

"This is something the public and private sector could get together on to provide financial and philosophical support to Bermudians going abroad.'' Monitor could assist the Island in getting more people involved and as the tourism industry was turned around then people would see the rewards in increased hotel occupancy, more visitors and more jobs.

"Ultimately we need more Bermudians in the hospitality industry.''