Bringing European visitors to the Island is the focus of a coordinated tourism initiative that also hopes to start a direct flight from mainland Europe.

The Bermuda Department of Tourism (BDOT), the Bermuda Hotel Association and the Bermuda Alliance for Tourism's marketing and airline committee have agreed on a plan for significant investment in Europe, particularly in the German and Italian markets.

Mike Winfield, chairman of the Bermuda Hotel Association, co-chairman of BAT and chairman of the BAT airline committee, said full details of the plan will be released at a later date, but the effort hopes to eventually lead to demand for a direct flight from mainland Europe.

"We have been putting our toes in the markets for years and now we are creating a consistent programme of awareness. At one point in the year 2000 we had almost 2,000 visitors. Some of those were of a substantial group, but we think 2,000 is a reasonable target for Italy.

"We are working toward an objective of 5,000 visitors from Germany a year.

"The coordinated team has now agreed on a plan that is designed, first to significantly increase the awareness of Bermuda in the German speaking markets, thus leading to improved arrivals from those markets over the next three years, to the point where it will become clear to potential airline partners that a regular direct flight from mainland Europe to Bermuda will be sustainable."

In 2006, the number of visitors from Germany rose from 1,051 in 2003 to 1,467 or 39.9 percent. The number of visitors from Italy also increased between 2005 and 2006 from 601 visitors to 969, a rise of 61.2 percent.

Mr. Winfield yesterday warned that while these visitor numbers seem small, European visitors often spend double or triple the amount of time North American visitors spend in Bermuda, making it far more profitable in the long run.

Expanding into the European markets will also make Bermuda less reliant on the North American visitors who tend, Mr. Winfield said, to have stopped travelling in September and October whereas Europeans generally continue.

The participating properties include the Fairmont Hamilton and Southampton Princesses, Cambridge Beaches, Elbow Beach Hotel, Grotto Bay, Ariel Sands, Aunt Nea's Inn and Granaway Guest House.

Investments by these properties earlier this year, meant Bermuda's new representative, Walter Langenberger of East Tourism Group, could prepare promotional material, establish relationships with tour operators and travel agencies.

Bermuda also has a new representative in Italy, Ferdinando Parallo of Destination Srl, who Mr. Winfield recently met on a trip that took him to both Germany and Italy with Glenn Bean, the Director of Sales and Marketing for Tourism.