US to blame for decreased revenue in Bermuda because of exaggerated reporting

The president of Cambridge Beaches, Michael Winfield, blames “exaggerated stories” by the United States about Tropical Storm Bertha for lost revenue for the hotel industry on the island.

Winfield said “What we have got is a shortened season, so that business looks reasonable until about the third week of August and then we see a precipitous drop in occupancy beyond that.”

“Traditionally from mid-August to mid-October at those levels the hotels managed to do relatively well, but now the season seems to run from the end of May to the end of August, so it is a dramatically shorter season and as a result revenues and down and the ability to reinvest is a challenge and something we need to address.

“Secondly, there was Bertha, where we lost a considerable amount of business and one aspect of that was the US media was reporting potential calamitous events happening in Bermuda, none of which amounted to much in the end.  Bermuda lost significant amounts of business for what amounted to one day of bad weather,” said Winfield.

Winfield also spoke about tapping into business from the UK by noting “I am a long-term advocate of the UK and Europe business and that is why I am pushing that side of the business very hard.  Their exchange rate with Bermuda is good, the woes of the US economy are not as dramatic there, and the psychology of the UK and Europe is different in that they will not sacrifice holidays, unlike in the US when it is first thing they drop during hard economic times.”

www.cambridgebeaches.com

Thank you to Alex Wright at The Royal Gazette for the quotes above, for more info on this stroy please visit www.royalgazette.com