Several tourists have threatened to boycott Bermuda because of the decision to allow four Guantánamo Bay detainees to come here.

Outraged visitors have contacted The Royal Gazette to speak out against the Island getting involved in the high-profile international affair.

Marshall Ottina, a grandfather from Boston, said he already had family trips here booked for July and December but wished he could cancel them after learning that the Chinese Uighurs — twice cleared of being enemy combatants by the States — may get to stay on the Island.

"I'm not blaming any of those poor Chinese people," he said. "If we are the ones who have held these people unfairly, we should be the ones making amends.

"We are upset at the Bermuda Government, along with our own government. Bermuda is a place that's noted for tourism. You don't want to go there thinking about these issues that now seem to be on everybody's lips."

Arthur Heimbold, from Washington DC, described the decision as "bizarre". He e-mailed us to say his family were "long-time Bermuda lovers" but were disturbed by the events of the last week.

"Obviously both the populist leaders, Obama and Brown, like the deal," he wrote. "The resettlement issue goes directly to motivation. Either Brown (or his facilitators) or someone in the US initiated the concept and the contact that resulted in the decision.

"The question is: who in Bermuda and the US were the direct beneficiaries of this arrangement? What was [US Consul General] Gregory Slayton's role in this transaction?"

A third tourist, this one unnamed, wrote to say: "We have been frequent visitors to your beautiful island since 1981 — NO MORE."

The visitor, from New Jersey, added: "We will spread the word to all our friends, who I am certain will agree to travel elsewhere."

See Letters to the Editor on Pages 5, 6 and 7 for more visitors' reactions