THE legacy of September 11 could help Bermuda's tourism industry in the long term, according to a leading member of the tourist entertainment industry.

Donald Morris, co-owner of Bermuda Island Cruises (BIC), said that his business, which includes providing parties on Hawkins Island, had recovered well after initial setbacks following last fall's terrorist attacks in the US.

And the upbeat businessman, who has spent the last 30 years or so first as manager then as owner of BIC, believed Bermuda's proximity to the east coast of the US was now a more relevant advantage than ever.

"I think September 11 may help Bermuda's tourism industry in the long run," said Mr. Morris. "Bermuda is only an hour-and-a-half away from the US and that is an advantage when Americans are reluctant to take longer flights to places like Europe. After September 11, we had a lot of group cancellations. But we were fortunate in that a lot of them came back this year.

"I think Bermuda's tourism industry right now is very strong, although we have a lot less beds and less airline seats than we used to."

Bermuda Hotel Association president Billy Griffith agreed with the notion that the island's tourism industry had undergone something of a downsizing and felt that it was now leaner and fitter.

But he did not believe that BHA members were about to enjoy a bumper summer.

"The industry is definitely leaner and I would imagine it's fitter," said Mr. Griffith. "It's still trying to rebuild itself gradually. There are a lot of renovations still going on.

"I know that being one-and-a-half hours away from the States is a strong advantage for Bermuda. But with the projections and the momentum we are seeing now, I'm not so optimistic about the summer.

"Generally, I would say there is a softness in the market, a lack of bookings. The momentum we would like to see is just not there.

"The first quarter was slightly up, the second quarter looks like it will probably be slightly down. For the month of May, it's going to be down, but we generally get a gradual pick-up through June and July."

He said the after-effects of September 11 and fears of more terrorist attacks in the near future were not the only factors keeping down the numbers of visitors from the US.

"I just think Americans are taking it easy at the moment and they don't want to spend a lot of money," said Mr. Griffith, who operates the Harmony Club in Paget. "We keep forgetting that they are still trying to recover from a recession."

Mr. Morris has long been an advocate of improving night-time entertainment on offer to visitors and has brought in a singer from Barbados, Biggie Irie, who has reportedly delighted the Hawkins Island audiences.

The BIC boss believed gambling could be one added attraction to help to pull in more tourists. But a scheme, given the go-ahead in Israel this week, to launch "flying casinos" - specially fitted planes to give punters a four-hour spin in the air - he did not consider viable for Bermuda.

By leaving Israeli airspace, the planes will get around Israel's gambling ban.

"You have to ask whether Bermuda has a big enough population to support something like that and I would say not," said Mr. Morris. "I think Bermuda would be better off with a floating casino, so people could go off on a ship for two or three days. I think our territorial waters extend to about 12 miles, so it could certainly be done."