A senior Caribbean tourism executive has urged the region to follow Bermuda's example and negotiate hard with the cruise industry.

Berthia Parle, who is about to become the new Caribbean Hotel Association (CHA) president, said the cruise industry contributed very little to the region and used "divide and rule" tactics to Caribbean countries.

The industry dodged a $1.50 Caribbean environmental levy paid by land-based hotels and threatened to pull out of destinations if they proposed raising the passenger head tax, she said.

She told the Caribbean Media Exchange conference in Montego Bay, Jamaica, that the region had to stand together to force a better deal from cruise ships, which make $1 billion a year profits, but gave little back to the islands.

Ms Parle, the vice-president of the St. Lucia Hotel and Tourism Association, said Bermuda was leading the way by getting the industry to pay $60 a head tax, a $1.5 million scholarship fund for Bermudians, and a $50 voucher for passengers to spend onshore.

Ms Parle said: "The operators of this industry continue to pay the game of divide and rule and heaven help any government that who dares to think of increasing the head tax by two or five dollars, as the answer is usually to pull out from that particular country."

The cruise industry continued to flourish "due largely to its tax free status and the free ride it endures on the backs of the land based hotels that provide 92 percent of tourism revenues, far in excess of the cruise sector.

"They continue to make exorbitant profits, $1 billion annually, with very little contributions to the social programmes on the islands, save a few toys at Christmas to under-privileged kids, beach clean-ups and painting homes for the elderly.

"It should come as no surprise therefore that cruise lines are able to blow the land based competition (away) with unbeatable vacation offers as low as $300 per person."

She said Caribbean countries needed to ask whether there was now a net economic gain from the cruise industry, as air arrivals were down.

"If not, are they prepared to implement policy measures that would seek to level the playing field?"

Tourism Minister Renee Webb said Bermuda had shown what could be achieved through negotiations with the industry.

Ms Webb told The Royal Gazette last night: "Bermuda is taking the lead and is a good example of what you can achieve when you negotiate.

"What we do is we negotiate with the cruise ships. It is a benefit to them to come to Bermuda and we negotiate to get the best advantage for Bermuda so it is a win-win situation."