History of Bermuda - Tourism

Tourism

Tourism in Bermuda first developed in Victorian times, catering to a wealthy elite seeking to escape North American winters. Many also came hoping to find young noblemen among the officers of the Garrison and Naval base to whom they might marry their daughters. Local hoteliers were quick to exploit this, organising many dances and gatherings during the 'season', to which military and naval officers were given a blanket invitation.

Due historically to a third of Bermuda's manpower being at sea at any one time, and to many of those seamen ultimately settling elsewhere, especially as the Bermudian maritime industry began to suffer, Bermuda was noted for having a high number of aging spinsters well into the 20th century. Many Bermudian women had wed to naval or military officers, but, with the arrival of tourism, Bermudian women found themselves in competition with American girls. Most Bermudian women who married officers left Bermuda when their husbands were stationed elsewhere. It was also common, however, for enlisted men to marry Bermudians, and many of those remained in Bermuda, leaving the Army.

In the early 20th century, as modern transportation and communication systems developed, Bermuda's tourism industry began to develop and thrive, and Bermuda became a popular destination for a broader spectrum of wealthy US, Canadian, and British tourists. In addition, the tariff enacted by the United States against its trading partners in 1930 cut off Bermuda's once-thriving agricultural export trade—primarily fresh vegetables to the US—spurring the island to pour more of its efforts into the development of its tourism industry,

Although Imperial Airways and Pan-American World Airways both began flying to Bermuda in the 1930s (by which time the summer had become more important for tourists making briefer visits), it wasn't until after the Second World War, when the first airport for landplanes was built, and the advent of the Jet Age that tourism really realised its potential.