UK couples planning to marry in Bermuda this summer will get a free round-trip ticket on British Airways.

The promotion is just one of the ways the Tourism UK Road Trip is hoping to lure visitors from across the Atlantic to holiday in Bermuda. The road trip is being financed and run by the Department of Tourism, Bermuda Hotel Association and British Airways.

Yesterday, Chairman of the Bermuda Alliance for Tourism's European Marketing Committee Mike Winfield said: "We are promoting Bermuda all over the country. We are riding in a bus that says 'Bermuda on Tour' and wearing Bermuda shorts in the cities.

"We are visiting Chester, Manchester, Birmingham, Winchester and London and meeting with travel agents, tour operators and the media to promote Bermuda."

When asked why an extensive road tour was taking place in the UK instead of Bermuda's main tourism market in the East Coast of the US, Mr. Winfield said: "The British are good at getting over crises, they have got over IRA bombing and 7/7. The election is coming up [on May 6] after that there will be a feeling of relief.

"And unlike Americans the British place a very high priority on vacations, they will not sacrifice a holiday and their average length of stay is ten days."

He said the cities chosen to be part of the tour where areas were wealthy British people lived. So far the reaction has been positive Mr. Winfield said and people have been interested in the wedding offer, which gives UK couples who are planning a wedding in Bermuda this summer free round-trip tickets.

The couples must organise official weddings on the Island between May and October this year. The Department of Tourism will be paying for the flights Mr. Winfield said. And the '6,5,4' campaign, which offers up to $600 off a hotel bill for this coming summer, has been a big success.

Any holiday booked between March 16 and April 15 will receive a $600 credit; $500 if booked between April 16 and May 15 and $400 if booked between May 16 and June 15.

The three-month sale is valid for travel between April 1 and October 31 this year.

Tonight the Premier will host 300 guests at the Café de Paris in the centre of London's Piccadilly. According to a tourism spokesman: "The Grade II listed building will be turned pink for the evening complete with beach and golf scenes representing Bermuda's two distinct holiday seasons, 'Beach & Sizzle' from May to September and 'Golf & Spa' from October to April."