"short-term band-aid'' of discounting this summer, Tourism Minister the Hon.

Mr. C.V. (Jim) Woolridge said in the House of Assembly on Friday.

"Bermuda must make every effort to resist the temptation to offer heavily discounted rates,'' Mr. Woolridge told the House in response to a query by an Opposition member on what the Ministry planned to do to revive tourism this summer.

In response, Mr. Woolridge reiterated his opposition to discounting, adding it would have a "long term detrimental impact'' on the overall profitability of the industry.

"Bermuda's future lies with providing a quality experience for our visitors -- not a cheap one,'' he said.

Raw visitor arrivals were just one indicator of tourism's health, he said.

While arrivals for the first quarter were down by four percent, both length of stay and visitor spending were both appreciably higher than the same period last year.

Bermuda, he said, was not alone in its concern about arrivals, particularly from the United States.

"This is a classic example that misery does not like company,'' Mr. Woolridge said.

But the current situation was related neither to the sales and marketing efforts of the Tourism Ministry nor the local hotel industry which were "making every effort to provide a quality product''.

They were, he said, offering very attractive packages and value-added features which gave travel agents more compelling reasons to recommend Bermuda.

In addition to this, the Tourism Department had taken a number of initiatives which included the "Pinch me, I must be Dreaming'' campaign in response to discounted airline ticket of $124 one-way to Bermuda.

"This action characterises our flexibility and responsiveness to the dynamics of the market,'' Mr. Woolridge said.

But while he commended efforts by the Police to initiate programmes aimed at beating crime, he said there were still "too many complaints'' about attitudes at the airport and incidents of crime against visitors.

He also took issue with an RG Magazine article which he said, did "very little or nothing to make Germans feel comfortable about choosing Bermuda. We must be careful what we write.''