One of the more interesting stats highlighted in the data session of the Tourism Summit was the perceived value of a Bermuda vacation measured by air exit surveys.

42% of people rate the value of Bermuda vacation as higher than expected, 52% rate it as expected, this is including air visitors.  This is an interesting metric that was primarily mentioned in passing but is of alot more importance than it is given credit for.  Many Bermudians believe that one of our biggest problems is that we don’t offer value for money when it comes to tourism and the reason why tourism suffers is because we’re too expensive of a destination.  This metric from the exit surveys seems to indicate otherwise, that the value we offer is not a fundamental problem.

One of the key takeaways from the summit was that awareness of Bermuda as a destination is very low and that this is a primary cause of our struggling tourism industry.  Thus raising awareness is a core focus of the Bermuda Tourism Authority.  It is an interesting point and warrants further reflection.