Inter-Island Communications News Brief – November 2, 2020

The hundreds of Bermudians living in the United Kingdom will have their movements restricted for a month due to a newly imposed COVID-19 lockdown. Prime Minister Boris Johnson made the announcement on Saturday as a result of the infection rate continuing to spike across the entire country. Prime Minister Johnson explained during a press conference at Downing Street that the intent of the second lockdown is to prevent what he called a medical and moral disaster while going on to say that the restrictions would be eased by December 2nd with a tiered system of restrictions being introduced on a regional basis.

One of the key differences between this national lockdown and the first one from earlier in the year is that UK schools, colleges and universities will be allowed to remain open but otherwise people are required to stay at home unless they have work that can’t be done from a distance or have to get necessities, pursue medical treatment or care for the vulnerable – the restrictions, as Prime Minister Johnson explained, are essential to save lives.

Bermuda’s prices are difficult for many residents to manage on a day to day basis, and they can be especially striking to visitors from countries accustomed to their dollar going a lot further while shopping. One tourist who recently arrived on the island was so surprised by the cost of groceries, she decided to record and publish a youtube video to document and share what it takes to get what you need while on the island.

Her name is Amy Gutman-Enright and is staying at an Airbnb for a month. Ms. Gutman-Enright put up a video over the weekend detailing her experience at one of the smaller local grocery stores – she highlighted how friendly everyone has been so far, but couldn’t help but draw attention to how much everything costs as you’ll hear here.

A BTA spokesperson said, “Bermuda’s spas are gearing up for a month-long promotion of health and wellness, with numerous properties offering substantial deals to travellers and residents throughout November. Bermuda Tourism Authority [BTA] launched Bermuda Spa Month in February 2019 to help drive visitation during the winter season and provide new on-island experiences at value. Nearly 2,000 appointments were booked by guests and some spas extended their offers. This year’s February initiative proved just as popular, so the BTA is doubling down to repeat the campaign this fall as part of its 2020 “inside-out” marketing strategy to appeal to both residents and the island’s increasing numbers of visitors. Spa-goers taking advantage of the special promotion next month can enjoy hot-stone massages and deeply hydrating treatments from only $99—as much as 50 percent off select treatments at Bermuda’s most alluring resorts and spas.

Our island is part of one of the weirder aspects of internet culture, specifically the social media influencer industry. As you’re aware, influencers are able to monetize their social media platforms and content by leveraging access to their huge audiences. One subset of the influencer community is – brace yourself – robots. That is, virtual influencers are fictional computer-generated people with faces, personalities, lives that they share with their hundreds of thousands of followers successfully enough to work with brands like Dior and Vogue.

According to a recently published report, the fourth most famous robot influencer is named Bermuda. Just to be clear, Bermuda is not a real person – she’s completely digital. Despite that, Bermuda has 284 thousand followers on Instagram who have followed her 269 posts on IG closely enough to generate an estimated over half a million dollars per year for whoever created her and actually owns and operates the account.