As the first hijacked jets were smashing into the World Trade Center, Tourism Minister David Allen was on remote Nonsuch Island with a group of American journalists, blissfully unaware of the unfolding tragedy.

Mr. Allen was in buoyant mood following the Society of American Travel Writers conference at the Fairmont Southampton Princess, which brought 450 influential tourism journalists to the Island and the promise of massive free publicity.

But shortly after 9 a.m., a Government Conservation Officer rushed towards him with a cell phone telling him he was being urgently summoned to Cabinet as the World Trade Center and Pentagon were under attack.

A boat was found to speed him to the Bermuda Biological Station for Research and as the Minister drove past the Bermuda International Airport, he could already see the first of the nine planes which had been diverted to the Island in the immediate wake of the attack after US airspace was closed down.

"At that point early on, we knew there were two planes that had gone down and one at the Pentagon and we didn't know how widespread it was and there was a fear there could be terrorists on the planes diverted to Bermuda," recalled Mr. Allen.

"I immediately knew this was a significant event and I heard there were a large number of jets diverted to Bermuda and we would have to find beds for those passengers.

"Driving back, I knew the world would never be the same and tourism would not be the same. As I was driving past the airport to Cabinet, the planes had already landed. To see all those jets there such as Al Italia was an amazing, amazing sight."

All sectors of the Island had to swing into action quickly to provide security at the airport in case terrorists were onboard the diverted jets, and also to find beds for the thousands of passengers who had been forced to land in Bermuda.

The reaction of the Island on September 11 - and its marketing push to kickstart tourism in the weeks after the tragedy - are a shining example to others, according to Mr. Allen and Bermuda Hotel Association President Norman Mastalir.

"I thought we handled it very well. There were quick reflexes from all the emergency services, the airport, the Regiment, Government and the tourism industry. Of all the surrounding countries to the US, we must have had one of the biggest challenges," said Mr. Allen.

Having handled the diversions and found accommodation for the passengers, Government and hoteliers realised the tourism year was in ruins.

With no one flying and Americans looking unlikely to board jets for quite some time, the industry was in paralysis.

However, the public-private sector Bermuda Alliance for Tourism (BAT) met early after the attacks to decide on an emergency strategy. It was widely accepted that marketing in the weeks after the attacks would be a waste of money as America was shell-shocked and the exercise would probably appear as tasteless.

But Bermuda decided it had to meet the wholesalers in the US who sell holidays to the Island to devise a way to salvage something from the rest of the year. The result was the Compliments of Bermuda promotion which offered tourists a $200 voucher to spend on the Island and which kicked off in November.

"Within three weeks, we were at the Plaza Hotel in New York City and our wholesalers told us they were surprised we came to them so quickly," said Mr. Allen.

"We were the first out of the box. I was very pleased with the reflexes of the tourism community to come up with the Compliments of Bermuda $200 voucher offer for November when people were beginning to travel again. Our close promixity and our serenity all worked well."

Mr. Mastalir agrees that the cooperative effort of all involved in tourism in the aftermath of September 11 was impressive.

"The industry here did a tremendous job in responding to the crisis to move immediately with new plans for the winter," said Mr. Mastalir.

"Most of our competitors were down eight to ten percent but we recorded rises of about 2.5 percent. A lot of our competitors, like the Caribbean, were later and a lot of other promotions, although they were renamed, were direct copies of ours.

"We learned some valuable lessons in terms of being able to work together and to come together as an association and as an industry to promote something, and all going in the same direction to accomplish the same thing, and hopefully we can continue to do so. `Unprecedented' might be too strong a word as I've not been here that long, but there was full cooperation between all the community, the industry and the Government that was really outstanding."

Both Mr. Allen and Mr. Mastalir believe the Compliments of Bermuda winter programme successfully avoided a complete haemorrhaging of visitors over the winter period, leaving the Island in better shape now than many competitors.

The World Tourism Organisation (WTO) was predicting the Caribbean would be down 13 percent this year, and Bermuda, as of August 26, was running 0.5 percent behind 2001, with 328,614 visitors. Air arrivals, however, were 5.5 percent behind as of August 26.

Confirmed figures for the end of July show air arrivals down 3.5 percent at 174,262, but all arrivals were up 2.2 percent at that date at 288,681.

"When you look at competitor destinations, the majority are in double digit decline, so its pretty good, although of course we want a surplus," said Mr. Allen.

"There are challenges with the WTO predicted US travellers spending $70 billion less, but it can be better. Are we doing better than others? Yes.

"Are we containing the damage? Yes. Is our proximity and tranquillity working? Yes, and we will build on that. We have a good platform and will be in a better position next year."

In tourism, 2002 would be a disaster for Bermuda if the Island finished behind 2001.

Mr. Allen and Mr. Mastalir are confident that won't happen, but the real test will be whether the Island can outperform 2000.

Mr. Allen refused to say whether Bermuda will top 2000, saying only: "There is no question we will be up on last year. There is going to be a surplus but we are coming out of a trench."

But Mr. Mastalir was more bullish, saying: "This year I think we'll finish significantly better than last year, assuming there isn't another tragedy, and I think we're going to do the same or better than 2000."

Tourism across the globe was decimated after the attacks, and Bermuda's main source of comfort may be that it is getting back on track quicker than many rivals.