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Aviation History
1961
1961 - 1747.PDF
FLIGHT, 30 November 1961 853 more Skycoach seats, but that BOAC are not too keen on this.Both partners must agree on any changes in pooled seats offered, though each can adjust the first/economy mixture on its own initia-tive. Of the general prospects of the mid-Atlantic route, Mr Snellingtalks of "a big potential." He believes that British holidaymakers have been sold on Palma and such places, and that they can now besold, and are being sold, on Bermuda. At the moment traffic to London is largely business and residential. But the holiday potentialis there. Up to July 1961, 1,520 people had come from the UK by air, and 92 by sea. The figures for the whole of the previous yearwere 1,322 and 130 respectively. In developing this business the airline has the full support of theBermuda Trade and Tourist Development Board, with whom it works closely. Tourism is this beautiful island's major industry,worth more than £10m in 1960. It is big business, run on business lines. A Blackpool landlady, if she talked holiday-trade shop withMr Williams, the Bermudian who is responsible, would be as out of her depth as I was. Statistics like an "achieved hotel-occupancy of 28.6 people perbed per year on the basis of an eight-day stay," which Mr Williams throws away one after another, mostly out of his head, are thelanguage of an industry that has developed its own brand of eco- nomics. Any country which depends on tourism for its income couldlearn a lot from Mr Williams and his staff. There was no question I asked that was not answered off the cuff or by reference to mas-sively documented files. Why, I asked, did people go to Bermuda ? The answer, compiledfrom multiple answers given in response to market surveys, was as follows: Climate, 57.2 per cent; natural beamy, 41 per cent; beaches,34 per cent; accessibility, 11 per cent; romantic atmosphere, 16.9 . lines up on the main runway . per cent; foreign country [i.e., British territory], 12.6 per cent;comparative cost, 11.2 per cent; sports [skin-diving, surfing, water skiing, sailing, fishing, golf], 10.3 per cent; other, 1.9 per cent.This proportion of preferences has held good, Mr Williams said, since 1947. The fact that Bermuda is British is not the primary reason for itsappeal to American holidaymakers. My impression was that, apart from the cars and the £ s d, the Britishness of Bermuda israther phoney. The American influence and accent, particularly in the hotels where the fleeting visitor forms his impressions, are verystrong. This is only natural in a country geographically so close to the USA, and so desirous of pleasing Americans. There have been campaigns to "recapture the British image."In the airport terminal are hung the coats-of-arms of the English gentlemen associated with the early history of this oldest of allBritish Colonies (1609). In the trough season, from November to February, visiting Americans can see replicas of the Crown jewelsin Hamilton, the capital; on Tuesdays they can have tea with the Mayor of Hamilton; on Wednesday they can hear the town crierin the old town of St. George. But it is a bit difficult to ask taxi- drivers and shopkeepers to help recapture the British image byquoting prices in £ s d when Americans ask: "Okay, but what is it in real money?" Bermuda is a paradise of natural beauty, there is no doubt aboutthat. There can be no more enchanting place in the world than Horseshoe Bay, no drives more delightful than those along Ber-muda's narrow winding roads, past coral walls lushly banked with hibiscus, oleander, Morning Glory, royal palm—all spicing the airwith a fragrance that perfumes the whole island. But Bermuda is very American, and nowhere more so than in thehotels. Words cannot describe the luxury and flashiness of a place like the Carlton Beach Hotel. This is Bermuda's new $5m hotel,opened only a few weeks ago, each of its two great white curving The Britannia's economy-class interior is remarkably comfortable, though perhaps this snapshot—token over the Atlantic on the morning after the night before—does not convey quite the same impression of luxury as do the professional airline publicity photographs wings enfolding a real genuine Bermuda coral beach cove. The bedsare seven feet wide; the 1.200 sq yd carpets along the three floors of each curving wing were laid with hydraulic stretchers; and the 12-colour three-tier carpet in the lobby was woven in Puerto Rico at a cost of $80 a yard. The lighting and sound effects in the nightclub, which has movable "air walls" retained by pneumatic seals, out-marvels Son et Lumiere, and the Henry End colour schemes inthe lobby clash in spectroscopic defiance of conventional taste: orange v. heliotrope, crimson v. mauve. The mind boggles withadmiration for the breathtaking vulgarity of it all. In Bermuda it is no use, if you are late, jumping into a car saying:"Airport, fast." The speed limit is 20 m.p.h., and your driver is fair belting along with 25 m.p.h. on the clock. If he is caught heis fined; at 30 m.p.h. he has his licence suspended as well. At 40 m.p.h. he is gaoled, and no argument. The 20 m.p.h. tempo isagreeably soothing and in accord with the general pace of life in this relaxing island. The transition from Bermuda's narrow winding roads to theteeming expressway from Idlewild into New York City takes but 2|hr by Cunard Eagle Viscount. In Bermuda only small Europeancars (99 per cent are British) are permitted; even the Governor General is only allowed an Austin Princess. Within 2Jhr I wason the road to New York City in a monster Cunard Eagle air- conditioned Cadillac, its two huge fins giving a passenger in theback the corner-of-the-eye feeling that another car is mounting the boot. I was impressed by the speed with which the baggage was got outof the aeroplane at Idlewild. Not only was it all in the terminal before the passengers: my own was identified and brought to mewithin two minutes of my leaving the aircraft. Less than a week later, on a flight from Cork, I waited with 20 other passengers at . . . and taxies in to the international terminal (Copt Vivian Robinson) London Heathrow Central for three-quarters of an hour for ourbaggage to be unloaded and delivered. I realized why the airlines at London want the Ministry to get out of the baggage-handlingbusiness. At New York Cunard Eagle do it themselves, with spec- tacular results. After seeing the airline's New York establishment, described inthe previous article (Flight, November 2), I flew down to Miami by Eastern Air Lines Golden Falcon Jet DC-8. There is not much that can be said about Miami that has notbeen said already. But the fleeting impressions of an English visitor are worth recording, because this place—as a Cunard Eagle-propelledparty of English travel agents recently learned—is now within reach [Concluded on page 860
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