Bermuda’s 2019 tourism strategy includes a concerted focus on building air arrivals, and pitching the island’s merits for year-round tourism.

Meanwhile, an industry forum this evening heard that Bermuda has to prepare hundreds of its people for hospitality jobs as new resorts open over the next few years.

A conference with the Ministry of Tourism and Transport and the Bermuda Tourism Authority gave an overview of the plans in train to boost the industry.

The Bermuda Chamber of Commerce and the Bermuda Hotel Association was included, with panellists such as Aaron Adderley, the president of Skyport, which operates LF Wade International Airport.

Tim Morrison, the president of the Bermuda Hotel Association, also fielded questions with Nathan Kowalski, chief financial officer of Anchor Investment Management.

Kevin Dallas, chief executive of the BTA, told the gathering at the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute that “only 20 per cent of the plan is in the BTA’s control”.

“Whatever isn’t in the BTA’s control is in your hands,” Mr Dallas said, emphasising the special challenge of boosting air capacity.

That will include drawing visitors from more peripheral cities in the United States, such as Hartford, Connecticut, or Chicago, he said.

New demographics are emerging, Mr Dallas noted: adventure seekers, while “not the return of College Weeks”, represent a group that “finds scooters fantastic and loves Airbnb”.

Bermuda is geared at tempting “active families” seeking experiences that will “end up in the photo on the mantel”, Mr Dallas said.

That includes millennials, a demographic now approaching its 40s, he added.

A plan for building tours around Airbnb is expected to be launched in March, according to Mr Dallas.

Meanwhile, team and group tourism is also being courted: 49 groups with 7,000 attendees have been racked up so far for 2019, but Mr Dallas said the BTA was keen to build more.

A similar forum set for next month is to focus on building sports tourism, while vacation rental owners are being encouraged to form their own association to grow the emerging sector.

Building tourism around the African Diaspora Heritage Trail stands to boost African-American visitors, but also “potentially all visitors” looking for something different in a destination.

Visitors service centres in both Hamilton and St George’s are to open in April, the forum heard.

• See Friday’s edition for input and comments from the other attendees at the 2019 Bermuda Tourism Outlook forum.