The Department of Tourism is very concerned about visitor numbers dropping off because of reports of hurricanes near Bermuda.

And Tourism Director Cherie-lynn Whitter strongly urged local hotels to offer a hurricane-free guarantee to visitors so they would get 100 percent of their money back should a hurricane strike the Island.

Last week, Aunt Nea's Inn manager and ex-Tourism Board chairman Delaey Robinson said airlines had responded to media reports, not reality, when seven flights were cancelled and visitor numbers dropped off during the close proximity of Hurricane Nate to Bermuda on September 8.

But the Tourism Director said yesterday Bermuda was not the only country to have its tourism affected by storms and it would be an oversimplification to blame the media.

"A tactic that has been used by other islands to help combat hurricane concerns is one in which hoteliers offer a form of 'hurricane guarantee,'" Ms Whitter said. "The idea behind this is that people would be more likely to book a destination with the potential to be hit by a hurricane if they knew that they could get 100 percent of their money back if necessary.

"We strongly recommend that Bermuda's hotels consider adapting such a policy across the board," she said.

Ms Whitter explained that the Ministry of Tourism has tried to combat misinformation about hurricane tracks for years, by setting up round-table meetings with meteorologists ? which will now become annual events.

"A few years ago the Department set up round table meetings with weather persons and/or their producers to explain in person, the impact that these 'vicinity' reports have on the destination, and presented quantifiable statistical data on the frequency of Bermuda weather report mentions vis a vis actually being hit with hurricanes.

"We wanted them to be aware of the negative impact that these reports have on the island's economy and how many businesses and lives were impacted by these reports.

"We also cited statistics on the relative lack of hurricanes that had actually hit the island in recent years. The Department has determined that this will be an annual initiative," she said.

But she said it was oversimplifying the problem simply to blame the world media for reporting the facts about hurricane tracks.

"We feel that it is an oversimplification to blame misinformation in the media on what is, in reality, an issue plaguing the entire travel industry.

High fuel prices and the guilt related to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina has badly affected the travel industry world-wide, she said.

"And an unusually active hurricane season have been widely cited in the international media as playing a major role in the struggles of travel destinations," she said.

She said it is not just Bermuda who were hit by these problems.

"The news media as you know, both here and overseas argue that they have a responsibility to report the facts. From their point of view, they suggest that they are not reporting that the island is in imminent danger.

"They are simply reporting the facts on the hurricane's positioning. To not do so, in their minds, would be irresponsible and would cause ill will among their viewership," she said. "Given Bermuda's position in the Atlantic, it does indeed get mentioned in weather reports more frequently than we would like.

"Oftentimes, this is because of the meteorological term 'Bermuda high'. In other cases, Bermuda is used as a reference point, again because of its position to the east of the US coastline."