Tourism Minister Renee Webb yesterday predicted hotel booking this year will be up over 2003 by as much as 18 percent.

She said hoteliers were reporting their best bookings in seven years.

In her budget briefing two weeks ago, she predicted a seven percent increase on 2003, but yesterday she revised that to up to 18 percent after talking with Island hoteliers.

And she said the 20 percent surge mentioned by Shadow Tourism Minister David Dodwell was possible. Last year visitor arrival numbers dropped by 0.5 percent to 487,318.

"We are predicting 18 percent. I would settle for ten percent, but we are predicting between nine to 18 percent, so it could be 20 percent."

She said Tourism's overseas sales and marketing people had all been given quotas to increase arrivals, and this was coupled with an aggressive push from the marketing arms of the hotels.

A combination of hotels damaged by Hurricane Fabian coming back on line and new expansions has produced a huge surge in the number of hotel beds available.

Combined with the number of new flights scheduled to fly into the Island, it all added up to a bumper season this year, she said.

After Fabian, the Fairmont Southampton, Sonesta Beach Resort and Pink Beach Club, closed down - and Coco Reef Resort shut for renovations - taking the number of open hotels to 54 and available beds down to less than 2,000.

With these four properties re-opening, there will be 59 licensed hotels and the number of available beds will jump from less than 2,000 to 3,062 by the end of this year, she said.

"As you are aware, the new awareness and marketing campaign which I launched last January has been in effect for a year now and it is bearing fruit as hotels are reporting their highest bookings in over seven years. Bookings are robust indeed," she said.

"I've had conversations with hoteliers who are saying it is the best bookings they have had in advance.

"Most are saying they will be full in June and July, and May is going to be extremely good and some hotels will be sold out, and that includes the small guest house properties as well.

"The Ministry of Transport has been very successful in securing additional flights for the upcoming season also.

"I anticipate that with the redevelopment projects, coupled with our success and the new additional flights, Bermuda will realise a healthy growth in the tourism sector this year.

"Bermuda, I predict, thanks to the efforts of Government and all our stakeholders, will have an excellent tourism year."

Bermuda Hotel Association president Norman Mastalir agreed that the 2004 tourism season looked promising.

"Bookings have been very strong across the Island, ahead of the pace for leisure and tourism, and groups seem to be strong as well," he said yesterday.

At his hotel, the Fairmont Southampton, bookings for May are 81 percent and he is hoping for 84 percent. June has 77 percent on the books but he is anticipating 86 percent, and high 80s for July and August.