Economic Growth

Firstly I want to say that I love living here in Bermuda and have great admiration for how the Government has handled the recent COVID-19 crisis. I have only been a resident here for 3 years, and I haven’t done my research before suggesting the following but here are some observations...

A) Create high streets (in Hamilton, St George’s & Dockyard) where people want to shop, eat and drink. There’s a couple of gems, but otherwise the current one is dated and owned by a few big companies, e.g. Island Restaurant Group, Little Venice Group and Calypso Group. The small selection of shops also makes it repetitive - why go shopping in Dockyard or St George’s, when there are the same shops in Hamilton? Increase entrepreneurship, diversity and innovation in the high street by promoting new business start-ups:

• Small business loans
• A Government-backed small business division providing support/ workshops / forums on how to turn ideas into businesses. E.g. how to set up a business, create business plans, get funding, day-to-day running a business. 
• Different import duty rates for businesses vs. individuals - provide a reason for customers to shop local and businesses to identify a gap in the market and sell a product. 
• Allow foreigners (e.g. partners of work permit holders) to set up businesses too, with conditions on ensuring locals are hired and used in certain aspects of their business.
• Make use of the derelict/ unused buildings that need to be refurbished/occupied. 
• The above also applies to more beachside dining, create something at Horseshoe than just a little shop selling fried food, create beach side dining strip for both locals and tourists.

B) Increase tourism. I don’t think the money is in cruise ships.. those tourists get off the ship, go to the beach then return to the ship for dinner. We need to increase hotel guests, but $300+ a night for a room that is dated?! Tourists will go elsewhere, paying $300 a night for a luxury all inclusive in the Caribbean. 

• Provide an internal Bermuda star rating of hotels and cap the price of the room rate dependent upon it. Hopefully this will drive some of the dated hotels to improve their rooms, facilities & service.
• Promote Air BnB, etc.
• Promote staycations at discounted rates
• Increase transatlantic flights to the island, e.g. Amsterdam, Munich, Paris. I much prefer holidaying where I don’t need a connecting flight!
• Also, there are a number of great businesses here.. but they have either a telephone number or Facebook pages. Help these businesses create websites that tourists are able to Google.

C) Increase farming/ fishing/ local food production and reduce the reliance on food imports.

D) Increase immigration and the ability to gain residency (through specific conditions) - I’m not saying open the borders but a third of the population is expats that are returning “home” one day. Make Bermuda their home and in turn they will invest in the long term needs of the island.