Tourism Minister Ewart Brown has declined to comment further on the decision by his department to link up with Internet giant Expedia to be the main hotel booking engine for its tourism website.

A number of hoteliers and Shadow Tourism Minister David Dodwell have expressed surprise and concern, claiming they were neither consulted nor informed of the move, which has financial implications for hotels that wish to be part of the Expedia set-up.

It is reported that Expedia charges a 20 percent booking fee.

Another hotel booking engine Synxis is used on the Bermuda Hotel Association's own website and has a low fixed fee for hotels that operate through it. The Synxis system is also used on a secondary page on the Department of Tourism website.

Asked by The Royal Gazette about the Expedia arrangement this week, Dr. Brown said he had no comment.