We have some screwy priorities in this country.  We refused to plan for housing that our international executives could buy (a contributing reason for the grand exodus).  And then we give concessions in order to develop the same thing under the guise of tourism.  Just tackier.  Something has to happen up on that hillside – we’ve already given away the keys and frankly we need the money – I just wish it was better integrated with Bermuda.

Proposed Bazarian development (manages to make the ole Holiday Inn look great!)

Certainly the above image provided by the developers makes the development seem more like a cheap American suburb than an extension of the meandering alleys and defining architecture of St Georges.

It’s pretty sad when a development in Florida manages to look more like St George’s than our own development looming over Bermuda’s World Heritage site.

Alys Beach, Florida

There was much hype about a movie that would be shot here.

Guess what?

It wasn’t.

Surprised?

But try and ever catch one of our leaders wearing shorts.  Not likely.

Evidence #1 at the re-launch of the new HSBC Tuckers Point yesterday:

They all look like bankers about to foreclose your loan and develop your woodlands.  Oh, right …

That’s really unfortunate.  Show us some knees people!!  And swap that elitist champagne for some good ole Dark & Stormy!

Update from this afternoon:  Patrice Minors gets the message!  Those shorts look awesome!  Now, don’t forget the knee socks!

Heh, that didn’t quite work out did it?  Ten years later, the Bermuda tourism industry is decimated.  There never really has been a plan:  just a long list of vanity projects.  Vain, costly and virtually always ineffective.

In terms of policy on the ground it’s been a failing strategy of constant retreat.

First, developers were given duty rollbacks to encourage redevelopment.  A logical move.

Then they were allowed to add residential components to their properties – and this contributed to the rapid conversion of many hotels to housing.

The wheeze of  “leasebacks” was later introduced to pretend that we were still talking about hotels and not real estate subdivisions for rich foreigners.  Media reports reveal that leasebacks are rarely sold.

Every hotel project on the cards in Bermuda now includes residential allotments larger than the hotel allotments!

And then stamp duty taxes were rolled back on those residential properties to encourage sales.

And then car licences were granted to many of those properties.

And then restrictions were lifted to allow year-round habitation in those properties.

Let’s be honest, we don’t have a tourism sector any longer.  We have a real estate speculation sector.

Government harasses Bermudians who are married to foreigners but then does everything it can to grease the ways for the sale of properties to non-Bermudians.  It just does not make sense.

They’ve been slipping down a slope of tourism mismanagement for years – and it continues unabated.  And with the piecemeal decision making, nothing has really been done to position Bermuda to either serve or take advantage of this new long-term resident foreign population.

And now a different tanget to this rant ….

It was apparent a long time ago that Bermuda’s sustainability in international business was entirely dependent on being able to “carry the load” of increased expats on this little island.  This was never addressed by an Government policy.

What we did was act xenophobic, milk them for all we could, and then insult them with term limits.  The result is that many of our biggest tax payers are slipping off to the Cantons.  Not because the really NEED to, but because they are just fed up with Bermuda’s intransigence.

Here’s my radical thought:  what we should have done was to take Morgan’s Point and developed an executive neighbourhood with a private school, parks, etc.  Allowed senior expatriate executives to have long term residence and to buy properties.  In other words, consciously expand Bermuda’s ability to carry a larger long term working population.  Politically difficult indeed … but I argue that bold approach would have provided more long term benefits and opportunity for Bermudians than the slim pickins that come out of tourism these days.

UPDATE:  A reader reminds me of the recent development at Camana Bay on Grand Cayman, which is very much along these lines.  I’ve been there.  It’s nice.  And full of expats who got term limited out of here.

Morgan’s Point has certainly suffered from this mismanagement.  And despite the news of the luxurious “notSouthlands” resort on the site, you wonder if the political tinkering will continue … with the inevitable ugly consequences.

Because nothing compliments a $2 billion exclusive resort and golf club like a “pirate-based water theme park” with a daytime capacity of 6,700 people, a strip of townhouses, parking for 200 cars, and an outdoor amphitheatre seating 5,000.

This proposal would fill the remaining Morgan’s Point land retained by the Government; the 30-acre “green” buffer strip between the resort and the railway trail/surrounding residential neighbourhoods.

Oy vey.  At least he’s not trying to shoehorn a water park into Dockyard, as the rumour mill predicted last year.

There should be limited development on this land, which should remain open space.

• Government’s punitive actions against Bermudians who are married to foreigners, saying they need to protect the Bermudian land for future generations of Bermudians; and
• Government’s announcement hyping the creation of literally hundreds of new properties for sale to foreigners?

In my opinion, it’s totally schizophrenic.  Just think:

The PLP has been bullying Bermudians with foreign spouses saying Government needed to protect land ownership for future generations of Bermudians.  Then they turn around and facilitate the sale of property to foreign corporations (and provide tax concessions on top of it!)  Does. Not. Compute.

With the slump in employment, the executive rental market has already slumped.  Will this Government move further hurt Bermudian landlords/taxpayers?

Will the move hurt the hoteliers, who depend on “price insensitive” business travellers to boost their margins?

Is this an admission that more exempt companies – pissed off by the term limits insanity – are bringing “commuter execs” in for short stints rather than basing them and their families here full time?

Much is made of the hotel concessions first introduced by David Allen.  In my view they were indisciplined as they, essentially, drove the mass conversion of Bermuda’s small hotels into condos. They did not rejuvenate the industry, which today is totally driven by low margin cruise visitors.

Government is desperate for good news in tourism to the point that they will fund a three star hotel using a low cost housing project. Seriously, does that sound like a good idea to anyone?

To me, this announcement is a gesture of throwing in the towel.  You can pretend they are hotels, but more and more they are sounding like expat residential developments.

I won’t waste too many words on his obvious cynical diversion.

The criticism is not directed towards GlobalHue as much as it is directed towards the Minister of Tourism, aka The Premier.

The GlobalHue deals have come under scrutiny because 1) Government ignored its own tendering procedures for large contracts such as this one, and 2) it was shown that GlobalHue and its subcontractors were charging commissions as high as 181% on ad placements, far beyond industry norms.  When civil servants in the Ministry sought information on GlobalHue’s work, the agency went around them to appeal to the Minister.  That’s wrong:  who does GlobalHue work for:  the Government or the politician?

Two consecutive Auditor Generals have found fault in the Ministry’s handling of this.  It has nothing to do with race and a lot to do with basic management and accountability.

It is my opinion that the Ministry of Tourism has been disastrously managed under the tenure of Dr. Brown.  That’s my opinion, and if you don’t like it I have others.

In a statement today, Director of Tourism William Griffith emphasised the new strategy highlights one of Bermuda’s strongest selling points – paradise in under two hours.   “The proximity message is key to our strategy in driving visitation to Bermuda this summer,” he said.

What’s old is new.  Check out the proximity “new idea” from the 1930s:

All morning there have been locals standing on Front Street, just looking happily up at the ship.

While I understand it may be difficult to attract smaller ships to the Bermuda route, our Government must make that a priority.

Oh dear.  That “comfy shoe” company Crocs has also adopted the schmalzy line.

Like Bermuda tourism, Crocs have been losing money for years, and people either love ‘em or think they are so uncool.

However the shoes, unlike our Government, are odor resistant.

UPDATE:  a reader points out someone else who’s feeling the love.  Yes, Luvrub pork marinade.  Hmmm, the tourism pork jokes are just too easy.

I don’t buy the official explanation that there was “too much concrete” in the proposal to explain Government’s foot dragging.  I do think we need to plan Morgan’s Point carefully – but I don’t think that’s what’s going on here.  To me this sounds like more political tinkering.

Just to make a point:

• The original Southlands plan for Warwick had impressive levels of concrete – that’s what made the community gasp and rise up leading to the Morgan’s Point shuffle in the first place.
• And the subsequent Jumeirah plan for Morgan’s Point that the Premier supported called for 450 rooms, a private residence club (fractionals) of another 450 condos, a spa, a marina, shopping village, and golf club.  A little concrete there too.
  

If the Premier has a sudden allergy to concrete, where’s his concern over the Grand Atlantic project on a narrow 13 acre site in Warwick?

• In 2007 Government provided an SDO for the development of the Grand Atlantic Resort to develop a 220-room hotel with nearly 70 residential units for international buyers as well as a two story retail centre.
• In 2009 Government amended that to allow a scaled down 100-room hotel (and 10 fractional condos) with 125 low-cost homes for Bermudians next door (roughly double the size of the intensive Paget Loughlands development).  Government hinted that it would commit up to $50 million to the BHC component of the project.

It seems that the Premier’s public positions are not set in concrete – and that little of it gets poured under his watch either.