Government’s deadline for experts interested in becoming Bermuda’s tourism advisor was blasted as “ridiculous” by a US consultant.Businessman Rick Clark said he couldn’t respond to a request for proposal (RFP) issued by the Ministry of Business Development and Tourism, because it didn’t give him enough time.The 28-page document, posted online on October 19, gave one week for prospective advisers to register their interest in reviving the Island’s tourism industry.It also sets November 30 as the date to announce who will be chosen to draft Bermuda’s national tourism plan for the next decade. Mr Clark, who has advised the US National Football League and helped NASCAR to diversify its following, said it would have taken him “at least 90 days” to put together a proposal.He said he wondered if Government already had a consultant in mind for the plan.“I have been a recipient of RFPs, and the time frame that was given here is, I feel purposely, very short,” Mr Clark said. “It would be very, very hard for any company, large or small, to send in a proposal in that space of time.“The hours that you would have to spend just going through the request itself there’s no way my team will address that ridiculous RFP.”Mr Clark has not visited the Island, but said he is keen to contribute to a tourism renaissance with ideas to establish a brand identity for Bermuda in the US. Describing himself as “very frank, but not disrespectful”, he said he sent proposals to Tourism Minister Patrice Minors in August but received no response.Complaining also that there was not enough transparency in Government’s long campaign to develop a national tourism plan, Mr Clark said: “In the end, whoever gets awarded the contract, it’s already set up for disaster because of the distrust that has been set up.”He added: “Had it not been for friends who forwarded me the document, I wouldn’t even have known about it. I just feel the process hasn’t been transparent. People like [Shadow Tourism Minister] Pat Gordon-Pamplin are going to question, and rightfully so, why they were not part of the process.”Mr Clark said Bermuda needs to become better known in the US.“Something we did for NASCAR was send a mobile marketing tour to select cities. We would line up the tour and take the best of Bermuda and the Bermudians to America, to give people a taste of the culture, the cuisine and the generosity of the people, city by city.”Mr Clark was closely involved in NASCAR’s diversity programme, which made sports headlines in 2008 with efforts to broaden its fan base. His private consultancy is based in Charlotte, North Carolina.Government did not comment on the cut-off point assigned for the RFP.