Affluent women of colour should be celebrating, not ashamed of what they have achieved."

Former IBM executive Linda Spradley Dunn is explaining the philosophy of her latest venture - Spa Odyssey, a travel magazine targeting well off, well educated ethnic women.

Spa Odyssey is a division of Idamar Enterprises, the company Mrs. Dunn founded on a desire to give consumers good service.

As Idamar's CEO, she had the satisfaction recently of seeing Idamar named the third-fastest growing company in the US by Inc. magazine in 2001.

Mrs. Dunn came to Bermuda to prepare for Spa Odyssey's launch after deciding to feature the Island in the inaugural June edition.

Explaining the concept of Spa Odyssey, the 42-year-old New Jersey native told The Royal Gazette: "One of the things I recognised was that people did not appreciate their multi-cultural audience. I think Madison Avenue (in New York) have it all wrong. You cannot market to one type of person."

So, Mrs. Dunn said, she decided to create a forum where ethnic women, including Asian and Latina, could meet their peers and network in search of other career opportunities.

She visualised cooking classes and other social activities also being offered. Hence, Spa Odyssey.

"I said I was going to focus on women of colour and find a venue where they could get together and not have to apologise for being affluent or well educated," Mrs. Dunn said.

In order to attend a Spa Odyssey retreat, women must have an annual income of at least $100,000.

"Some people say this is elitist, but they have to understand that we are not all the same.

"My message is I have more in common with those who earn what I do," she said.

She hosted her first retreat in 2000. Because she had no money to advertise, Mrs. Dunn visited 12 US cities and held parties in potential attendees' homes, where she pitched the idea. Registration fees start at $2,800.

The annual event has become so popular, said Mrs. Dunn, that by the end of last year, 275 of the 350 available spots were taken for the Spring event.

Piggy-backing on the success of the Spa Odyssey retreats, Mrs. Dunn said she decided to launch the travel magazine as an outlet for people of colour.

"I want to highlight different destinations through our eyes," she said.

During her stay on the Island, Mrs. Dunn hosted four groups of people, ranging from a family of four to single doctors in need of a vacation.

She and her crew followed them throughout the Island and their ventures will be publicised in June.

"Every single group said they would come back," she said.

But why did she choose Bermuda as the travel magazine's first featured destination?

"I planned to get married here in 2000," Mrs. Dunn said.

"And before I knew it, my wedding was a couple of months away and I hadn't done anything."

But she said, once she made a call to the Island, local wedding co-ordinators took care of everything, which Mrs. Dunn said impressed her greatly.

And, she said, the Island's close proximity to the Eastern seaboard was a draw.

"Plus, there's not a lot of hassle going on and Bermuda's crime rate is very attractive," Mrs. Dunn said.

And she had nothing but praise for the Bermuda Department of Tourism, who were instrumental in bringing the magazine to the Island. "Employees at the Department are street fighters when it comes to Bermuda."

Mrs. Dunn added that Bermuda was so appealing to her that Spa Odyssey intends holding a couple's retreat during the Jazzfest weekend this August.

For more information on Spa Odyssey, log on to spaodyssey.com.