An island plans to invade Charlotte

Don't look now, but tourism officials on one Atlantic island have the idea that Charlotte residents may want to come visit them.

At a recent summit in Bermuda -- technically a group of more than 100 islands -- officials voiced worries about a dip in visitor traffic, which was down more than 4 percent in the first half of the year, with U.S. visitors down more than 14 percent. Why should we care? Well, apparently the Bermudans -- Bermudians? Bermuders?* -- see Charlotte as fertile ground for more tourists. Here's the word from your favorite Bermuda news source and mine, The Royal Gazette:

Mr. Jones said participants agreed to investigate Charlotte, North Carolina, as a year-round market to pull visitors from in the long term.

"Charlotte is within 90 minutes of Bermuda and is the number six fastest growing city in the United States with a mean household income of $97,000. Population in Charlotte is projected to grow from 1.6 million today to 4.8 million by 2028, it was revealed at the summit. At present there is seasonal air service between Bermuda and Charlotte," said Mr. Jones.

Not sure all those figures are accurate, but yeah, we're still growing here. And we do love our island and/or tropical getaways. There's a reason US Airways flies to more than two dozen destinations in the Caribbean and Latin America.

Still, you have to wonder if now is the best time to come calling for travelers. Airlines are contracting flights, people are wondering if gas prices will continue falling ... even in a growing region, people are more strapped than before. And hey, we've got sand and the same ocean right here in the Carolinas! Let's see how good the sales pitch is, I guess.

* It's Bermudians. I checked.