By NAN Business Editor
News Americas, WASHINGTON, D.C., Fri. Aug. 10, 2018: A British Caribbean island territory spent millions on promoting tourism in six months out of the last year, News Americas has found.
A NAN analysis of the latest FARA (Foreign Agents Registration Act) report, released by the DOJ to Congress this month, shows that the Bermuda Tourism Authority reported spending over US $10 million in six-months on “promotion of tourism” as of December 2017.
The Authority, located in New York, said the money – $10,582,210 to be exact – was spent over six months of last year on distributing informational materials to travel agents and participating in various workshops, seminars, and travel/trade shows.
The news comes on the heels of Kevin Dallas, chief executive of the Bermuda Tourism Authority, saying in March that almost 693,000 tourists visited the island in 2017.
Most other Caribbean tourist boards did not report their spend. However, the two that did report, claimed they spent far less.
The Cayman Islands Department said it spent $6,377,481.92 for the six-month period ending September 30, 2017 while the St. Lucia Tourist Board said it spent $32,754.40 for the six-month period ending September 30, 2017.
Meanwhile, the Caribbean Tourism Organization, said it spent $592,145 for the six-month period ending December 31, 2017 while the Caribbean Tourism Development Company reported spending a mere $4,000 for the six-month period, also ending December 31, 2017.
