Tourism Minister Ewart Brown has promised a more targeted marketing campaign and less financial waste as figures announced in yesterday?s budget revealed a slight increase in the department?s allotment of funds.

Tourism will receive 36,783,000 for 2005/006, up three percent on the current financial year.

Dr. Brown said that reviving the flagging tourism industry is not simply a matter ?of throwing more money? at the problem, but spending the money available in a more efficient fashion.

Investing heavily in the local tourism economy, improving resources and service, as well as encouraging more Bermudians to consider the hospitality sector as a worthwhile career move, would do far more to improve the overall package than costly and often fruitless media campaigns, he said.

Promising a reduction in ?scatter marketing? and to cut out the middleman, Dr. Brown gave further details of the proposed restructuring of tourism offices in North America, revealing the centres in Boston and Toronto will gradually be phased out over the coming months ? with employees working solely from home.

Only the New York office will ultimately survive the cull, although Dr. Brown also said a new location is being sought, with the current facility in down-town Manhattan proving ?excessively expensive? and is ?not even at street level?.

The restructuring will save the Ministry $1,686,000 ? money which Dr. Brown said is to be ?re-routed? into consumer based initiatives locally.

There has also been a seven percent cut ($17,846,000 to $16,368,000) in the amount of money set aside for advertising and promotional campaigns worldwide ? a move Dr. Brown stressed is in line with a more prudent and specialised approach.

?In this day and age, with the technology at our disposal we could no longer see the need for the number of offices we had,? he said.

?Success in tourism is not dependent on the size of your budget but on the efficiency of the spending and the effectiveness of the various initiatives. We believe that by using our own staff to go straight to the consumer, using fewer middlemen, we can produce results.

?An example would be the black-tie dinner we hosted in Atlanta earlier this year. For a fee of only $6,000 we were able to address 700 of Atlanta?s richest and most influential citizens which is a personal, less expensive, more hands-on approach. I believe this will work better.?

Dr. Brown said more time and money would be placed on raising awareness in Miami for the new non-stop flight to Bermuda, as well as the proposed routes from other cities such as Detroit and Chicago.

And he said the Ministry is ?very close? to a deal with an Italian carrier for direct flights from Rome and Milan.