tourism watchers, good tourism work is being done on the other side of the Atlantic and is going largely unnoticed. But Bermuda's Director of Tourism in the UK and Europe, Pippa Grive, is working to change the level of awareness.

In the second in a two part series, Ms Grive tells Henry Adderley about her office's efforts to attract visitors to Bermuda.

Bermuda should focus on the length of time people visit the Island for and how much they spend while on vacation rather than the number of visitors it receives.

"There is too much focus on visitor numbers,'' says Pippa Grive, director of tourism for Britain and Europe. "What we need to look at is the length of stay and room nights and we need to look at their expenditure on the Island.

"European and UK visitors come out on top in both of these areas.'' They have a whopping average stay of 10.9 nights this year, more than double the average length of stay of the North American traveller.

They also tended to be discerning, well travelled and willing to spend more money -- 25 percent more than North Americans in many cases.

Europeans would spend, on average, about 2,500 on a two week package holiday, she estimated.

This was why other initiatives her department had instigated included improving prices and developing package tours for the two-week visitor while maintaining quality.

"We are working on bringing Bermuda into a price bracket that more Europeans can afford without discounting the product,'' said Ms Grive.

But it was not merely a question of increasing numbers at any cost as there was also a need to have quality visitors, she added.

"The number of European arrivals will always be relatively small but what is important is the quality.'' Island hoteliers had picked up on this, she continued, and now realised that a European visitor was worth one-and-a-half to two North American visitors as they spent far more.

This all indicated the need for Bermuda to develop a long term strategy for its tourism industry that capitalised on the huge potential on the international scene, she continued.

Europe had massive growth potential, she continued, and its population was far bigger than that of the States.

Bermuda was seen to have "a wonderfully sophisticated element'' but while Europeans were aware of it, they had no solid knowledge of the Island.

"So what we have really tried to do in Europe is build an educational programme especially for people in the travel industry.'' Coupled with this was the Bermuda Specialist Agency Scheme which provided further training for select travel agents.

Included in the Bermuda advertising packages were a list of these specialist travel agents so that interested consumers would know precisely who to contact.

"This started in March and the phones have been ringing off the hook,'' said Ms Grive.

Research had psychographically, not demographically, targeted the type of customer who was likely to be interested in coming to Bermuda, added Ms Grive.

These included: "Aspirant new money'' -- visiting Bermuda offered people who had worked to achieve their wealth, not inherited it, a way to be accepted by the "old money set''; "Repressed hedonists'' -- Bermuda offers excitement with safety for people who desire to be rebellious and live life to the hilt but have too much respect for authority; "Civilised hedonists'' -- Bermuda's exclusivity and good living appeals to people with an upper class, imperial mind set who love life and are not influenced by their friends; and "Destination collectors'' -- "unknown Bermuda'' offers travellers who choose vacations that will influence their friends the ideal destination they can go to before others do.

And the advertising campaign had been revamped to target Europeans and Britons who demanded choice and flexibility, particularly in the areas they were most concerned with including eating out, excursions, and transportation. "Find Yourself in Bermuda'' recognised the different market place it had to reach.

While North Americans loved the "Britishness'' of Bermuda, said Ms Grive, this was not necessarily a drawing factor for Europeans.

Research had shown the main drawing factors for Europeans was the relaxation, exclusivity, high standards and old world charm.

"Combined, these lead to Bermuda's ability to give a relaxing but glamorous holiday and we capture that sense of well being in Find Yourself in Bermuda,'' said Ms Grive.

SELLING BERMUDA -- Tourism's Pippa Grive