by Brian Major
Last updated: 12:00 PM ET, Mon November 18, 2013
Bermuda's government has launched a search for a sales and marketing executive to head its first-ever tourism authority, which next year will replace the department of tourism as Bermuda's primary tourism marketing and promotion organization. Bermuda is seeking to reverse a years-long trend of declining arrival numbers
The first advertisements for the chief executive's post were placed late last week, according to government officials.
The position will be based in the northeastern U.S., Bermuda's primary tourism source market, and the ideal candidate will have "a strong background in hospitality in resort destinations" according to tourism department officials.
The tourism authority should begin operations in March, said authority David Dodwell, the agency's chairman designate. Bermuda legislators approved the tourism authority's creation in September following a long debate.
Shawn Crockwell, Bermuda's tourism minister has led the initiative to create a tourism authority, saying the tourism department has long been limited by "political interference."
The tourism authority "will be managed independently," said Crockwell, and become "the singular voice that restores Bermuda as a world-class tourist destination."
Bermuda hosted 210,964 tourist arrivals in second quarter of this year, a 12 percent decline from the 240,538 visitors recorded during the same period in 2012, according to Crockwell.
The tourism department's $30 million annual budget will initially fund the tourism authority, said Dodwell, but the chairman designate recently said he hopes the agency will emerge as a tourism "asset holder" and become self-funding within two years.
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