A range of topics including health insurance, gambling and teamwork among hotels were discussed at a meeting on tourism between hotel owners, the Bermuda Industrial Union and Government.

The quarterly meeting, held at the Fairmont Southampton on Thursday, was hosted by Premier and Minister of Tourism Ewart Brown and chaired by Dr. James King, chairman of the Hotel Owners Committee.

According to a press release, the agenda included discussions on work permits, enhancing and promoting Bermuda's tourism product, industry service standards, the Hotel Concessions Act, and managing hotel energy consumption.

JP Martens, Bermuda Hotel Association (BHA) President and Grotto Bay Beach Hotel general manager, gave a presentation focusing on enhancing the customer experience and what types of features the visitor wanted to experience on the Island. During his presentation Mr. Martens introduced the idea of creating a modern convention centre and an expanded promenade along Hamilton's waterfront.

The release said Dr. Brown backed the idea of developing Hamilton's waterfront, saying: "We must continue to talk about the waterfront development, and we must continue to grow the idea of what we would like to see on the Hamilton waterfront.

"A convention centre could be the way to go. As we have heard from hoteliers and those in the tourism industry, business is being lost because we don't have a state of the art facility to host group business."

The rising cost of health care and insurance was also discussed and hoteliers came to the consensus that one of the best ways to keep insurance costs down was to create "wellness programmes" which would promote healthy lifestyles among their employees.

Work permits, immigration and the hiring of Bermudians was a major topic at the meeting. John Harvey, Executive Officer of the BHA, said he would liaise with the BIU, hoteliers and the Department of Immigration to ensure there were no gaps, and that every Bermudian who was qualified to work was afforded an opportunity in the industry.

According to the release, Dr. Brown said the creation of the Bermuda Hospitality Institute (BHI) was a step in the right direction.

"The Bermuda Hospitality Institute has been formed, is now properly staffed and we are very proud of it," he said.

"The idea behind the BHI is to increase the number of Bermudians in hospitality and entice them to be a part of this vibrant industry. We are serious about this programme, as it represents our long range planning and investment in our people and our industry. As we move forward I want to encourage our collective cooperation on initiatives such as these which will only work to enhance and strengthen our industry."