and now the Bermuda Hotel Association is putting its weight behind the reinvention of tourism with a massive expansion plan. Tim Greenfield looks at the BHA's challenges and aims. With nearly 85 percent of the Island's accommodations now represented in the Bermuda Hotel Association, the organisation can boast a powerful lobby of major players in the industry and smaller, more individual hotels that Bermuda excels in together in one united group they are set to be a force to be reckoned with. Following a landmark meeting in July, the association has begun to shake off the shackles of the past and move forward, bringing new and one-time former members into the fold.

With a new energy, the BHA is tackling the woes facing tourism on several fronts, and as with the private sector "Conduit Alliance'' marketing plan, is dovetailing its efforts with both the long term plan and Government's overall aims. The first stage of this renewal will be seen with the doubling of the present staff of two, including the appointment of a sales and marketing coordinator. His or her brief will be collate information from the 45 members on their marketing efforts and see how they can fit together into a cohesive plan -- leaving Government to sell the Island as a whole, and the BHA to concentrate on the individual properties. They have already come up with some ideas, including possibly ditching the lavish overseas tourism roadshows favoured by Tourism Minister David Allen and a move towards more targetted briefings for selected travel agents on the Island. In addition, they aim to have a marketing plan in place by January and would like to see a cruise passenger reduction of approximately 60,000 phased in. President Billy Griffith said people had to realise that tourism's problems woes were not entirely Government's to solve, and that the hotels had a major part to play.

"During the last six months we have spent a lot of time and energy on getting everybody involved,'' he said. "We are moving swiftly to try to expand our structure. "We need to get concentrating the energy of the hotels to match with what is happening in Government. The coordinator (of sales and marketing) will be the catalyst for everything that comes out of the Conduit Alliance.

"The creative energy and enthusiasm of the members is focusing on working with Government to come up with a coordinated plan of action to get business for all hotels and make them more successful. "What is going to make people invest is not only Government effort but also a belief that business is good, because we have to show that we are successful.'' With 45 of the 54 Island accommodations now in the BHA, including some properties that were out for many years, they hope to bring the remaining few into the fold. An integral part of the BHA's brief will be to try to make the industry an attractive career to Bermudians again, and by using role models to talk to students at Bermuda College and outline the benefits of a hospitality career. The BHA has formed a number of committees to deal with specific issues, such as marketing, European business and human resources. Executive director John Harvey said one of the first tasks of the marketing committee will be to review the current method of reaching out to US travel agents. "They will be reviewing the roadshows and how we have been historically doing them. Let's dissect them and come up with a new approach to this whole thing -- the jury is still out on that. "There is a realisation that what we have been doing in the past hasn't been as fulfilling as perhaps they could be. "The off-Island approach gets the agents in, entertains them for a couple of hours and then hopes something will happen. When they come to the Island they get the warmth of the place and meet staff. "There is a strong will to be focusing on-Island.'' On cruise ships, there is a consensus forming that there should be a natural reduction in passengers, who are, on the whole, not of the "quality'' that Bermuda desires. Mr. Harvey said they had been asked to make a submission to Government -- who have not yet released their long-awaited cruise ship policy -- on the subject. "We are encouraged that there is recognition that the clientele should be focused more on quality and we are hoping that will include the cruise ships also,'' he said. They hope that numbers can be cut from the present 190,000 cruise visitors each year, down to around 130,000.

The decrease would come over a number of years as contracts expire. "We will be looking to make a submission to reflect a healthy working balance. We understand the challenges the Chamber of Commerce and retailers have. But if we improve the type of visitor we get here, with higher spending available, that will reflect on the bottom line.'' Despite wanting a reduction in cruise passengers, the BHA are keen to stress that they are not in an adversarial relationship with Government. "We have been extremely pleased with our relationship with Government in the last two years,'' said Mr. Griffith. "We have had several hotel owners conferences and we have had good discourse with Government Ministers. "We support Tourism in their efforts, we need to assess what they are doing and how they intend to go forward in the future.'' PHOTO