Politicians must lead by example and treat each other with civility if tourism is to be revitalised, Senator Calvin Smith told the Upper Chamber yesterday.

And in a rare show of unity in the Senate, there were murmurs of approval from Opposition members.

Government had taken a number of measures to revitalise the hotel business, the senator said during yesterday's debate on the Budget. But tourism could not be turn around on Government's efforts alone.

"The thing that really scares me is.. when you're talking about a first class hotel, you talking about a service - meaning people are doing things for people. I'm not sure the people of Bermuda are aware of the commitment that would be required from them for the revival of this industry," the senator said.

"If we don't return to the place where people smile and all that good, warm fuzzy stuff then there's a problem. But how do we go about that if there's all this hostility among ourselves ? We as a society have to start living that kind of life and encourage other people to live it. We have to do it by example - we can't do it by lecturing... And we have to do it constantly."

Sen. Leonard Santucci - a minister - interjected to say, with a smile, "show the way".

Sen Smith replied: "I know and I promise I'll never cuss you again."

He said that it was clear that young Bermudians did not see work in hospitality as a first choice, but partisan rancour was not helping to turn that around. Listening to the way the Opposition criticised tourism figures, "how on earth is anybody going to encourage their children to go there?" Senator Smith continued.

"We've got to do it together," he said. "Our creation of BAT (the Bermuda Alliance for Tourism) was our acknowledgement that everybody's got to be into it."

Besides BAT, Government had also passed the Hotel Concessions Act where hoteliers are encouraged through tax breaks to train locals, hire Bermudian entertainers and spend more money on marketing, the senator said.