ERROR RG P4 22.3.2000 The new late afternoon Delta flight from Atlanta will begin service on April 2, not April 15 as stated in Monday's newspaper. The flight leaves Atlanta at 4 p.m. and returns the next day at 8.30 a.m. It will run until October 31.

Bermuda's new flight out of Atlanta will receive a huge marketing push this week as a contingent of hoteliers and Tourism Ministry officials fly into the city.

Fresh from their tourism marketplaces in the United Kingdom, Tourism Minister David Allen will lead the delegation on the three-day trip to Georgia.

Together with Delta airlines, they will put on a trade show for 300 travel agents and stage an education presentation on the Island -- called the "Bermuda Celebration 2000 Atlanta''.

Tourism Director Gary Phillips said they were blitzing the city alone because it was not possible to include Atlanta on the recent Midwest and West Coast promotion tours.

"It means we have been given an opportunity to make a special occasion out of the Atlanta gateway,'' he said.

And he said the new flight, which is due to start on April 15, is already being marketed in the US by Delta.

Running daily, it will leave Atlanta in the late afternoon to enable passengers from the rest of America to connect and will depart Bermuda early the following morning to allow visitors to get home in a day.

The service will run until October, flying a Boeing 757 with space for 188 passengers.

Mr. Phillips added the recent on-Island conference of the Eastern Region of the American Society of Travel Agents had provided valuable feedback on the viability of the flight.

"As the flight has already been announced, they are out there booking these seats. We had excellent feedback from ASTA, they were really, really impressed by Delta and talked of how fabulous it was,'' he said.

In Atlanta, the Bermuda contingent is expected to include Bermuda Industrial Union president Derrick Burgess, Bermuda Hotel Association executive director John Harvey and the Bermuda Strollers.

Taking place at the J.W. Marriott hotel, there will be a three hour session for hoteliers to hook up with travel agents and sell their various properties.

It will be followed by a trade show, video presentation and speeches by some of the delegates.

And at the end of the month, a contingent will again hit the road for another promotion. This time it will be a three-day event in St. Louis to support the new TWA twice weekly summer service to the Island.

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