BERMUDA must walk a fine line between inviting in more cruise ship passengers and spoiling the unique experience which the island now offers visitors, says a former Bermuda Director of Tourism.

Andy Vladimir, who worked for the Government during the tourism heyday of the mid-1980s, said the island could do more to encourage cruise ship passengers to part with their money during their brief time ashore.

Mr. Vladimir's comments came as a report from the New York Times showed evidence of the increasing popularity of cruise vacations from New York City - the main departure port for Bermuda-bound voyagers.

Added fears over flying since last year's September 11 terrorist attacks had made travelling by ship more attractive, claimed the report.

Government statistics estimated that last year just over 179,000 cruise ship passengers pumped nearly $40 million into the local economy, spending an average of $221 each.

Mr. Vladimir, who co-authored a book about the cruise ship business with Carnival Cruises president Bob Dickinson, felt those figures could increase but he warned against the island taking too many passengers at one time.

"Bermuda cannot hold too many tourists at any one time - it hasn't got the capability of delivering a quality experience that visitors expect and indeed demand," said Mr. Vladimir.

"It doesn't matter whether they're hotel guests or cruise ship passengers. The buses and ferries will be overcrowded, the restaurants will be out of tables and soon there will be lines of shoppers waiting on Front Street to just get inside Trimingham's.

"Government must walk a fine line between accepting what the market is offering and spoiling the reputation that Bermuda has built up as a quiet, unspoiled corner of Paradise."

Mr. Vladimir was referring specifically to 'megaships' like the Carnival Triumph, which visited Dockyard twice in June, bringing nearly 3,000 passengers and 1,000 crew.

There appears to be scope for an increase in the number of passengers from last year, with the 2001 total of 179,435 cruise line visitors some 41,000 below the planned annual limit of 221,000 set by the Government.

During research for his book and for his work as a lecturer in cruise line management at Florida International University's School of Hospitality Management, Mr. Valdimir has sampled many cruises around the world.

"Sure you could have 300,000 cruise ship passengers a year coming to Bermuda, but you have to think whether it would change the Bermuda experience," said Mr. Vladimir.

"In St. Thomas, for example, they allow 14 or 15 cruise ships to visit at the same time. Their main shopping street is about the size of Front Street, although it has shops on both sides.

"So there are about 10,000 extra people put there and it's no fun to shop in St. Thomas. I don't think Bermuda should do that. I think it might be easier to get the current number of tourists to spend more."

He believed Front Street stores could benefit from selling traditionally British goods, with famous brand names such as Harrods, offering American tourists something different from what they could buy at home or on the ship. Bermuda retailers were competing against in-ship malls, he added, and they had to bear in mind that the average age of passengers was dropping and was currently at 49.

But he felt the island's tourism industry had to work harder if it wanted more cash from the voyagers during their brief visits.

"I think you really need to create events for them," said Mr. Vladimir. "When cruise ships stop in Alaska, the passengers go to salmon bakes, where they can sit around and listen to local music for about $50 a head.

"In St. Thomas, they have trips up the mountains. Bermuda would be ideal for beach barbecues with music. And why not stage a performance of Macbeth at Fort St. Catherine. I can't think of a better setting anywhere. You could almost have a permanent cast."

New York's cruise ship terminal was being used as a command centre for the emergency services for some time after September 11 and the city's cruise ship business initially suffered a heavy blow in the aftermath of the suicide airliner attacks, but it has now rebounded strongly.

"Everybody was sweating bullets to think of what would happen this year," said Arthur Boyle, general manager of New York's passenger ship terminal. "It came right back."

Industry experts say the number of passengers travelling in and out of New York will be higher this year than in 2000 and they predict that next year will be even better.

By the end of this year, it is expected that passenger traffic through New York's terminal will have reached 630,000. Next year it is anticipated the figure will rise to 750,000.

Mike Driscoll, editor of Cruise Week, a trade newsletter, said: "The reason they (the passengers) are doing this is because of the whole flying mess. Some people are afraid to fly, some just consider it too much of a hassle."

Mr. Vladimir's book is called Selling the Sea: An Inside Look at the Cruise Industry.

He was hired as Bermuda Tourism Director in 1984 on a three-year contract but left 18 months later after his house was fire-bombed. He was not at home at the time and his family, including his two young children, escaped unharmed.

Now a resident of Miami, Florida, he said he had no hard feelings against the island. "I still really love Bermuda and I really miss it," he said.