claimed TWA would drop its service to the Island from St. Louis.

And Mr. Dodwell suggested the reason for the lacklustre service lay not with the airline but with Tourism Minister David Allen's focus which he claimed has not been on the business aspects of the industry.

"Since the start of the service the load factor has not gone up,'' Mr.

Dodwell said last week. "Speak to the St. Louis travel agents who say the flight is not receiving adequate promotion and that not enough people know about it.

"Here we are in September and my contact has told me that TWA will not be flying into Bermuda next year,'' he continued. "And that the Minister has been informed of that in writing.

"My question to the Minister is is that true and if it is true, number one, the people of Bermuda, particularly those in the tourism industry should be made aware of that.

"Secondly, what is the Minister going to do to try prevent that from happening?'' Mr. Dodwell added. "What is his strategy to retain it?'' Mr. Dodwell, a hotelier, said Mr. Allen put "too much emphasis on road shows and entertainment and promotion trips rather than on the business aspects''.

Asked if the TWA hub of St. Louis was a good place for a Bermuda flight, Mr.

Dodwell said: "That's difficult to answer. It could be given the right focus, including the right marketing.'' He added that St. Louis is well suited as a transfer point for flights from both the Mid-West and the West Coast of the US.

Burt he added: "I still believe that Miami would have been a better choice with its South American and Caribbean links -- not to mention the Florida links.'' Last week, Mr. Allen was reported as saying that TWA was restructuring. Mr.

Allen responded to phone calls last week from The Royal Gazette , but subsequent efforts to contact him were unsuccessful.