Restaurants across the Island are set for a huge boost next year after Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCL) announced it will issue $50 vouchers to all its passengers to dine out, onshore.

NCL said it will be first time any cruise line anywhere in the world has offered vouchers for passengers to eat at local restaurants, including those in hotels.

If all passengers on NCL's two ships visiting Bermuda use the vouchers, it will pump around $2 million each year into Island restaurants, said Tourism Minister David Allen yesterday.

The initiative was welcomed by the Chamber of Commerce, which said it could provide a lifeline for struggling restaurants.

Andrew Stuart, the senior vice-president marketing and sales at NCL, said yesterday: “For the first time ever, a cruise line has taken an on-ship dining programme to the shore. Our aim is to have every single passenger enjoy a meal in one of Bermuda's restaurants.”

Passengers can pay $5 to NCL for a $25 lunch voucher, and a further $5 to buy a $50 dinner voucher.

NCL announced yesterday that the Norwegian Sea will come on a four-year, 20-week run from New York next year calling at Hamilton, St. George's and Dockyard.

And Norwegian Majesty's contract for St. George's, which expires next year, will be extended for another three years from 2004.

Retailers and restaurants have often complained that cruise ship passengers spend very little on the Island because all their meals are provided on the ship, but the NCL announcement was given a warm welcome yesterday by the Chamber of Commerce.

Philip Barnett, the chairman of the restaurants division at Chamber of Commerce, told The Royal Gazette: “This looks like being an excellent way of getting those cruise ship passengers off that big old boat to enjoy the benefits of Bermuda more than they currently do.

“We're quite pleased with it and look forward to learning more about it when the information is forthcoming.

“We think we can all benefit from it if NCL is bringing 3,500 passengers to the Island every week and they are all having the ability to eat somewhere. Go for it.

“It is much needed because many, many restaurants have struggled drastically and this year was make-or-break for some of them. Some went under, and the word on the street is that a lot of owners and operators are very worried, and this certainly is a much-needed boost in the arm to help us go forward.”

NCL is also planning to organise two large outdoor Bermudian style dining experiences in St. George's and Dockyard.

The company is arranging African Diaspora Heritage Trail tours in Bermuda and it plans an African Diaspora Heritage Trail cruise in 2004 which will link the Island to other destinations in the diaspora.

Mr. Allen said yesterday: “We will make Bermuda the very first cruise destination in which onshore dining at dozens of restaurants will be offered as integral components of cruise packages offered by one of our valued partners.

“Under the new contracts, virtually every tourism-related operation in this country, including the hotel sector, stands to enjoy substantial benefits from the introduction of other value-added benefits for Bermuda.

“Under the Dine-Ashore arrangement, NCL guarantees Bermuda a minimum of $500,000 a year from each ship for the duration of the contract, a total of $3.5 million over the total contract period.

“The potential revenue for Bermuda's hotels and restaurants under the new NCL contract is substantially in excess of this figure, with a total of 176 sailings for the two ships and aggregate passenger capacity of the more than 250,000 over the respective three and four year contract periods of the two ships.”

Mr. Stuart said the dining voucher initiative was only for Bermuda but it could be expanded to other destinations if it is a success.

“Today this is for Bermuda, but we are looking closely to make a big success, and who knows where it goes from here,” he said.