Tourism official said last night.

But there is some hope behind the bad news, added Tourism Director Gary Phillips.

Toronto-based Conquest Tours nixed its partnership with Canada 3000 Airlines last week after a decline in passenger numbers.

However the tour company will continue to offer Canadians discount get-away packages to the Island through the use of US Airways flights.

And Conquest intends to resume its arrangement with Canada 3000 next October.

Over half of the Island's Canadian visitors arrive between November and March, a time when the Island's main carrier out of Canada, Air Canada, switches to smaller planes on its Toronto-Bermuda route.

Canada 3000 was supposed to fly to Bermuda on Thursdays and Sundays between September and May to take advantage of this demand through an alliance with the Bermuda Hotel Association which helped create air inclusive hotel packages at affordable prices.

Mr. Phillips also said there is little likelihood of a direct flight between Bermuda and Florida in time for the 1998 season.

Last March, Tourism Minister David Dodwell announced during last year's Budget debate that an offer of significant funding to help with a Miami to Bermuda flight was made to American Airlines.

Mr. Phillips said that while talks between the department and the airline was continuing, there were no further developments to report.

"It does not seem likely that we will have a direct link with American Airlines out of Miami in time for the season,'' he said.

However the department was exploring other options, he said.

"We are talking to a number of different people who might be able to either give us a scheduled service or a charter service, on a limited basis,'' Mr.

Phillips said.

He declined to reveal who had been contacted.

Meanwhile he noted a charter service between the Island and Florida would bring its own challenges as a charter service did not have the "feed systems'' from other points across the US, Caribbean and Latin America that scheduled air carriers possessed.

And he emphasised that the key to securing a service out of Florida was to demonstrate that it was a viable market place for the Island.