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Some News from Bermuda

March 10, 2005

For those not aware, I was born in Bermuda and lived there until I was 14 before my family moved to Canada. Growing up on an isolated island (North Carolina, the nearest landfall, was over 700 miles away) only 20 miles long and 2 miles wide made for a very different experience than those who grew up in Canada. I was always amazed whenever we'd visit Canada or the States by the open spaces and long stretches of highway that are non-existent in Bermuda. I feel fortunate to have grown up in a tourist haven where I experienced different cultures (British, Portuguese, Canadian/American, Caribbean) and played in a variety of sports I wouldn't have otherwise.

I don't think much about Bermuda anymore; it's been almost nine years since we moved here. But it's still close to my heart. Today I came across two news items, one good, one bad, concerning Bermuda that I wanted to share.

Found via Bermuda's national newspaper, The Royal Gazette, the first item concerns a beach I lived one minute from and spent hundreds of hours at swimming, body surfing and running around as a child. The Travel Channel will be airing a feature on the world's top ten beaches and Horseshoe Bay is one of them, where they consider it "Best Postcard Beach." (See picture.) If only we had left when I was a few years older!

Bermuda's tourism industry, so vital to the island's economy, has struggled in recent years and led to several hotel closures. The slump began in 1996 with the brutal murder of an attractive 17 year-old female Canadian tourist. The trials of the two men responsible were botched by the Crown and one received a 5-year conviction for being an accessory while the other got off on a technicality. Understandably the family was furious and launched a campaign to boycott Bermuda. The entire affair was covered extensively by Canadian newspapers, with a large photo of her printed every story, and the negative publicity no doubt caused a drop in Canadian tourists. The increased apprehension towards flying and travel after 9/11 further contributed to the slump. Hopefully the feature will spark interest.

The other news item is a fallout of the slumping tourism industry mentioned above. Trimingham's, a Bermudian department store founded in 1842, announced that it will be closing its doors for the first time in 163 years at the end of July. Located on unquestionably the most prime real estate in Bermuda's capital city of Hamilton, the store is uniquely Bermudian and part of the experience of visiting the island. I was stunned when I first heard the news as Trimingham's seemed secure and successful with seven locations across the island. If Trimingham's struggled enough to close shop then certainly the smaller stores are also struggling.

This is a clear indication of the extent to which the tourism industry has declined and I can only hope it improves before more hotels and stores close and Bermuda's culture is threatened.

Posted at March 10, 2005 08:44 PM

10 Comments

Bermuda Tourism missed out BIG time on Trimingham's closing. If I had received an email telling me about Triminghamn's closing I would have made a special trip! They have addresses and emails of thousands of repeat visitors - - I have been there 11 times...and counting!

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Some News from Bermuda

March 10, 2005

10 Comments

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