first inspection this year.

Credit for the record pass rate has been given to a new system in which health officials, firefighters , the Bermuda Hotel Association and Police pooled resources to advise hotels how to get their licences first time around.

In the past, hoteliers have complained that lack of communication between different departments resulted in a tangle of conflicting regulations and hazy definitions.

In some cases, hotels that fitted locks following security regulations had to remove them after they conflicted with Fire Department codes.

A hotel liaison committee, set up last year by Tourism Director Mr. Gary Phillips, this year invited the Police Commissioner to participate on a permanent basis for the first time.

The committee which acts in an advisory capacity for hotels, should help do away with bureaucratic snarls and poor communication between the hotel and regulatory authorities.

Self-inspection forms have been distributed to hotels allowing them a chance to attain licensing standards before formally applying for a licence.

"It has ironed out the conflicts,'' Mr. Phillips admitted yesterday. "We wanted to make it so that the goal posts weren't being moved all the time. We wanted to standardise the message being sent to the hotel industry to there is no confusion.'' Police have also visited hotel properties to offer owners advice on how best to protect their properties.