Chamber of Commerce executive vice president Diane Gordon says the organisation has not formulated a position on regular visits by megaships to the Island as the issue was not currently up for debate.

Speaking at Hamilton Rotary Club's weekly meeting at Tuscany Restaurant yesterday, Ms Gordon did not say whether she was for against more megaships such as the Carnival Triumph which has visited the Island for the past three weekends.

Ms Gordon said that she was not on the Tourism Board but said clearly Bermuda needed different ventures to attract visitors to the Island. She also said that from her insight into the debate, tourism stakeholders were split 50/50 on the introduction of casinos.

Concerning the ships, Ms Gordon said that clearly the spot for the megaships was in Dockyard, but this opened up a multitude of questions as to the logistics of accommodating such large ships with thousands of passengers.

Having visited the ship during its last weekend visit, Ms Gordon said the quality of people on board was very diverse and added: "Certainly, the visitors (on the Carnival Triumph) are not the normal visitors that we have had on Front Street."

She said passengers wanted to get off the ship as soon as it arrived in Dockyard and were keen to explore the Island. Ms Gordon also said the visitors clearly spent more in the restaurants and shops than passengers from the regular cruise ships.

However, Ms Gordon added: "We in Bermuda need to ensure the product is able to handle it, but we are not able to do it right now."

She pointed to areas of transport and entertainment as issues that needed to be addressed.

An area where the Chamber is involved in helping host the megaship is through the running of the Visitor Service Bureaux (VSB), including one in Dockyard.

Ms Gordon said: "Some of the challenges faced by the Visitors Service Bureaux were evidenced by with the recent successful visit of the Carnival Triumph to Dockyard. The ship has approximately 4,500 people on board including crew and passengers seeking information, transportation passes and guidance. The VSB coordinated with Marine and Ports, the Transportation Board and others to ensure they were prepared for the arrival."

Megaships such as the Carnival Triumph have been a hot topic for discussion with several prominent members of the community both for and against the floating cities.

Former Premier Sir John Swan has called for all cruise ships to be phased out of the Bermuda market but just last week in the House of Assembly Government backbencher Wayne Perenchief said he welcomed the ships coming to the Island for regular short stays as long as they were scheduled properly.

Mr. Perenchief said he hoped the ships would help support small businesses and the sagging tourism industry.

During the same debate, Opposition leader Dr. Grant Gibbons said the UBP did not oppose megaships provided there was a balance between air and cruise arrivals.