Vexed Bermoothes

I blogged several months ago that Bermuda badly needs an independent statistics authority, given the temptation to manipulate and spin the numbers.

The Department of Tourism continues to reinforce that case, today announcing that “Bermuda is continuing to attract affluent visitors” as proof that “our marketing strategy is producing the kind of results we are looking for.”

Notably, the media release does not differentiate between tourists and business travellers.

Given that the majority of visitors coming to Bermuda these days are associated with international business, of course they are affluent. It has very little to do with Bermuda’s marketing strategy, which has focussed on cruise ships and ethnic marketing.

The Statistics Act must be updated to improve the independence and objectivity of government statistics. The numbers must be produced by professionals free from political interference such that:

• The Stats team independently chooses what data to compile (ensuring that the process and datasets are not manipulated to suit a political goal).
• The Stats team releases the data, which will be available to the public and the Government at the same time (reducing the urge to pick out the most flattering data and craft a message for public consumption).
• The Stats team independently chooses how to present the data (reducing the spin surrounding statistics – by the time the public have had time to digest the numbers behind the hype, the news has moved on).
• The Stats team chooses the release dates for statistics (reversing the trend of choosing good days for burying bad news).
• A independent watchdog can annually comment on the quality of the statistics and make binding recommendations for improvement.