A former director of tourism for the Government of Bermuda has been appointed to temporarily lead the board of the beleaguered Bermuda Tourism Authority.

William Griffith is listed on the quango’s website as acting chairman, though an announcement about his appointment has not been made.

Joseph Best, the deputy chairman of the BTA, appears to have left the board, as he is no longer listed on the site.

Mr Best’s departure comes after Wayne Caines quit as chairman last month in the wake of an investigation into complaints of bullying, harassment and unprofessional behaviour by BTA executives.

Mr Caines and Mr Best had their board appointments renewed for another year on January 1, according to a notice in the Official Gazette. Mr Griffith joined the board at the same time.

Since then, the outcome of a third-party workplace culture review, commissioned after an exodus of staff from the authority, has been shared with the BTA and a summary has been given to tourism minister Owen Darrell.

Mr Darrell threatened to dismantle the BTA in a letter he wrote to the board in December over its failure to address complaints about “workplace bullying, harassment and unprofessional interactions with management …”

Mr Griffith was the Director of Tourism in Bermuda from 2008 to 2014, before he returned to his home country, Barbados, to become chief executive of Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc until 2019.

He had previously been general manager and executive director at the Harmony Club and Belmont Hotel, earning Hotelier of the Year here in 1997. He now runs his own company, WCG Consulting Ltd.

He takes on the chairmanship of the BTA board after the tumultuous tenure of Mr Caines, the president of Belco, when head of human resources Tracy Berkeley became CEO and staff attrition skyrocketed.

Records released to The Royal Gazette under public access to information showed that 30 people left the BTA in little more than 2½ years. The publicly funded body has 42 positions.

The departures included 23 staff members who resigned or left through mutual separation between June 1, 2022 and January 8, 2025.

Ms Berkeley, who has been in charge since June 2022, said last month that a comprehensive presentation on the workplace culture report would be made to the “entire BTA team”, and then the board, “which sanctioned the cultural review, will determine the appropriate next steps in collaboration with leadership”.

She added: “This includes implementing the recommendations and deciding when and how the report will be made public.”

A BTA spokeswoman said yesterday: “For specific inquiries on board appointments and term expirations, we invite you to reach out to the minister and our partners at the Ministry of Tourism.”

The ministry said that board members had appointed a new acting chairman in accordance with the Bermuda Tourism Authority Act 2013.

A spokeswoman added: “A process is currently under way to select a permanent chair. However, in the interim, the acting chair will continue to fulfil the full responsibilities of the role.

“Additionally, to clarify, the deputy chair did not resign. Rather, his term naturally concluded at the end of February.

“The board is reviewing the Ernst & Young report and a statement from the board will be made in the near future.”

The other members of the BTA board are Dennie O’Connor, Jennifer Phillips, Kim Swan, Ronald Simmons and Shiona Turini.