All Island residents have been urged to pull out the stops to make next week's influential conference of American travel writers a success.

Around 450 journalists from the Society of American Travel Writers (SATW) will be on the Island for the conference, which could generate hundreds of newspaper, magazine and internet articles, as well as television and radio features.

The Department of Tourism believes it will be a golden opportunity to showcase the Island in publications around the world and it is urging everyone to help make the delegates leave Bermuda with a good impression.

The conference at the Fairmont Southampton Princess officially opens next Tuesday and closes on Saturday.

SATW is the largest association of travel writers in the world and with the Island heading for its worst season ever, favourable publicity from the conference could be a vital boost if tourism is to recover.

The journalists will be given a series of tours around the Island, experience a variety of different foods thanks to a dine-around programme organised by restaurants, and will also attend cocktail parties which residents have agreed to stage in their own homes.

Tourism public relations manager Charles Webbe said yesterday: `'We are going to be really under the microscope and our job as Bermudians is to show the best foot forward that we can.

`'We are the hosts and our job is to ensure that when they leave, they leave with the best possible impression they can get.

`'These stories have a vast shelf life. A lot of these writers are freelance, so they can recycle their stories, so there is a lot of mileage we can get from this convention.''

Government Information Services spokesman Gavin Shorto added: `'This is a really nice opportunity for Bermuda to put its best foot forward.

`'Bermudians are pretty good with strangers because they are used to dealing with them all the time. Tourism would like to ask anyone who sees these people with their delegates badges on who need help, that if you could really trot it out it would help.''

The delegates will attend receptions at the Southampton and Hamilton Princess hotels, the Elbow Beach and Sonesta Beach hotels, Government House, the National Gallery and Commissioner's House.