Overall tourist visits jumped by almost 25 percent last year ? with air arrivals returning to pre-9/11 levels, according to latest figures announced by the Premier Ewart Brown.

In a wide-ranging update on tourism and transport, Dr. Brown also revealed the Island could have another nine licensed hotels by 2009.

He said officials are currently in Italy discussing an Italy/Bermuda charter and that there would be a continued focus on attracting more visitors from Germany.

And he expressed disappointment at the ?chorus of disapproval? currently surrounding hotel development in Bermuda saying the Island had an opportunity now to return tourism as a pillar of the economy. According to figures released yesterday, 641,717 people came to Bermuda last year, up 23.2 percent compared to the arrival figures of 2005.

Visitor spending and hotel occupancy also rose and Dr. Brown, who is also Minister of Tourism, said Bermuda could expect to see more hotel development in the coming years.

But significantly, Dr. Brown said: ?I am pleased to report that air arrivals for 2006 reached their highest level in the last six years with a 10.9 percent increase over 2005.

?This illustrates that the demand for Bermuda?s tourism product is bouncing back, with air arrivals returning to pre September 11 levels.?

Air arrivals in 2006 reached 298,973 visitors compared to 269,568 in 2005.

Cruise arrivals were up 36 percent with a total of 336,299 visitors in 2006 compared to 247,258 in 2005 while yacht arrivals were up 56.3 percent contributing 6,445 visitors in 2006 compared to 4,197 in 2005.

Visitor spending was also up when compared to last year?s figure of $290 to $333 million. Dr. Brown estimated that visitors spent between $357 and $426 million in 2006.

Air visitors spent an average of $1,070 and cruise visitors spent an average of $112 each while in Bermuda.

Hotel occupancy also rose 6.9 percent to 63.8 percent at Bermuda Hotel Association properties in 2006. Currently there are 56 licensed properties in Bermuda with 2,824 rooms available - an estimated bed count of 5,698.

Dr. Brown said in the next two years the number of beds will rise to 3,001 ? an estimated bed count of 6,052 ? with the opening of Tucker?s Point Residence Club, Belmont Hills and Newstead.

And he projected that by the end of 2009 there will be 65 licensed properties with 4,229 rooms available.

Dr. Brown conceded that hotel development had been a controversial topic recently after plans for the Southland?s development were announced but said that Government was committed to restoring tourism to its former prominence.

He said: ?If I have one disappointment, it would be at the chorus of disapproval that now surrounds hotel development in Bermuda. The irony of this is not wasted on me as some of the same voices of dissent against development are those same voices who criticised us for the lack of hotel development.

?We have an opportunity in this country to firmly return tourism as a genuine pillar of our economy. To yield now would be to declare ourselves out of the tourism business.

?I am not prepared to do that and I am persuaded that the people of Bermuda would not support such a tame approach in this realm of global competition.

?Instead we press on mindful of our environment, conscious of our responsibility to future generations, and committed to restoring Bermuda to its pride of place as the destination of choice.?

Dr. Brown also announced changes in the Department of Tourism and new initiatives to add more ?Pop and Sizzle? to the Island.

He said the Chamber of Commerce would no longer be in charge of the Visitor Service Bureau, which it has run for the last 70 years. The new format will be announced in the coming months.

He also announced that Lou Hammond & Associates will no longer be the North American public relations agency for Bermuda. The company, which has offices in New York City, Miami, and Charleston, South Carolina has done Bermuda?s PR since 1999.

Dr. Brown said a new firm would be announced shortly and he planned to continue promoting Bermuda through non traditional methods, such as YouTube ? which already has a clip of the Premier standing on a beach greeting would-be tourists and inviting them to the Island.

The partnership with TNT Vacations to provide low-cost airfare from Boston will return again this year, Dr. Brown said, after it brought more than 5,000 additional visitors to the Island last winter.

Starting February 19 tourists can avail of airfares from Boston as low as $79 until the beginning of May. The Department of Tourism and the participating hotels will apply the Compliments of Bermuda $300 credit programme to the charter.

Dr. Brown also announced:

* Bermuda will host the PGA Grand Slam of Golf tournament at the Mid Ocean Club from October 15-17, with a three-day pass costing $150. The tournament will be broadcast around the world on TNT.

* Airport Manager Jim Howes is currently in Italy meeting tour operators to discuss an Italy/Bermuda charter.

* The Department of Tourism and BHA are in the final stages of negotiating with German tour operator to bring tourists to the Island. It is expected that in 2008 Eest Tourism Group will block seats on scheduled carriers to Bermuda.

* The Movies on the Beach and Sandtastic Sand Castle Competition will return this year

* The number of Pop and Sizzle Ambassadors will increase this summer and the university students will become ?foot soldiers and promote various activities while guiding tourists to popular attractions.

* That the African Diaspora Heritage Foundation has applied for charity status.

* The 2006 campaign ?Conversations? which features adverts with mild sexual innuendo will continue.