The Bermuda Tourism Authority today responded to Opposition charges that it had lavished more on in-house compensation than on promoting the Island to the world.

During Monday’s sitting of the House of Assembly, the BTA came under fire from the Progressive Labour Party for spending too little on advertising — and it was yesterday accused by Zane DeSilva, the Shadow Minister of Tourism, of “paying more for staff costs and bonuses than they spend annually on advertising Bermuda overseas”.

“At no time in the BTA’s history or in its 2015 budget will compensation outspend the allocation for marketing Bermuda,” the authority responded, in a statement sent out this afternoon.

According to the organisation’s financials, the BTA spent $9.9 million, about 50 per cent of its budget, on sales and marketing for the period of April to December 2014, versus $3.9 million on salaries, benefits and incentives, at 20 per cent.

For 2015, the BTA has budgeted $16.4 million, or 57 per cent of its funds, for sales and marketing — and $5.4 million, or 19 per cent, on salaries, benefits and incentives.

The statement follows:

“The BTA’s percentage of budget allocated to compensation — less than 20 per cent — is well within business best practices, which dictate compensation should not exceed 33 per cent of total budget,” said COO Karla Lacey, who has oversight of BTA’s HR and finance practices.

“In the Government, for example, salaries and benefits typically make up 50 per cent of the budget, or about one half. For the BTA, the compensation portion, including performance incentives and benefits, is less than one fifth.”

Meantime, on the Opposition’s call for the Tourism Authority’s strategic plan, the BTA would like to remind the public of its Tourism Summit this past January where its strategic plan was shared widely.

Members of the Opposition, the Government and hundreds of industry stakeholders attended the summit. The next Tourism Summit, detailing the strategic plan for 2016, will be held this November.

Additionally, the sales and marketing division today shared a progress report on its 2015 strategies with local media. Tomorrow, the product and experiences division will share a similar local media update.