An American tourist has written a stinging letter of complaint to the Tourism Minister claiming she was discriminated against and unnecessarily interrogated by an Airport Customs officer.

The Department of Tourism has promised to fully investigate the incident which left the black American visitor saying it would be her first and last visit to the Island.

The letter was also copied to .

In it, Californian Jo-An Turman claims the Customs officer made anti-tourism comments and repeatedly demanded to know why she had chosen Bermuda rather than Hawaii.

Mrs. Turman and her daughter arrived on the Island for a week-long holiday two weeks ago, but by the time they cleared Customs, her opinion of Bermuda had already soured.

Mrs. Turman said every one of the six black passengers on the flight was pulled out of line and subjected to an ?invasive? search and line of interrogative questioning.

She said a female Customs officer asked her if this was her first visit to Bermuda and then asked why she had not gone to Hawaii, over and over, throughout the search.

Mrs. Turman said when the officer heard they were going to stay at the Fairmont Southampton she demanded proof of how they would pay for this ?pricey? hotel.

An embarrassed Mrs. Turman said she had to show her American Express statement, which ?thankfully? she had with her, and proof of confirmation from the hotel.

?The officer?s voice was becoming more and more hostile as she continued to question us as to why we had not rather gone to Hawaii and then wanted to know what I do for a living and wanted to see a business card,? she said.

By this time, at least a half an hour had passed and all the other passengers had left the Airport.

But the Customs officer continued her line of questioning and searched every single bag they had ? a process that also included exposing their luggage to a Police narcotics dog three times.

?She made so many inappropriate, sarcastic comments while searching our bags like ?it looks like you packed for three or four people instead of two?, ?why so many shoes?? and ?are you sure you don?t have someone hidden in here???

Mrs. Turman said she was getting tired of the sarcasm as they were both very tired ? having come off a red-eye flight the night before.

?Our porter even mumbled that he had never seen this before and wanted to know what she was looking for,? she said.

?She continued to make anti-tourism statements which we thought were very inappropriate and so out of line in trying to encourage black tourists from visiting Bermuda.?

Sadly, it was not the only discouraging and discriminatory incident the Turmans would experience in Bermuda.

During a Sunday brunch at their hotel, Mrs. Turman said she noticed that they had been overcharged and pointed it out to the waiter.

?He had a major attitude in addressing us and told us ?well you are locals and locals have to pay more since they are not hotel guests?, but not once did he ask us if we were staying in the hotel, he just assumed,? she said.

A regular visitor to Jamaica, Mrs. Turman said she was used to warm, welcoming Caribbean and island hospitality and her decision to try ?somewhere different? left her extremely disappointed.

Even the locals, she said, questioned them constantly as to why they chose Bermuda and not Hawaii.

?I felt Bermuda was one of the most beautiful, though one of the most expensive countries we have ever visited,? she said. ?But the appreciation of my money was not there, not to mention the hospitality I was expecting.?

When she returned to Los Angeles, she wrote the letter to Tourism Minister Ewart Brown in the hopes that this would never happen to another black tourist in Bermuda.

Dr. Brown said yesterday that he was saddened by the receipt of the letter.

?The official policy of the Bermuda Government is one that does not condone racial profiling or discrimination,? he said. ?Our Customs/Immigration officers are well trained and are expected to uphold the highest standards.?

Dr. Brown added that the Department of Tourism had contacted Mrs. Turman, offering their regrets and promising a full investigation.

Despite e-mails and calls to Customs yesterday, no one was available for comment.