These are worrying times for Bermuda's tourism industry. With the rising price of fuel and thus increased cost of travel, hotel occupancy rates are dropping and more tables in restaurants are being left empty.

Allied to that is the fact that Premier and Tourism Minister Ewart Brown last month predicted the Island's tourism industry is in for three lean years and revealed that overall arrivals have slipped 4.29 percent since January, while air arrivals were down 10 percent compared to the first six months of 2007.

Total visitors dropped from 232,806 visitors to 222,821, with a 14.5-percent reduction in tourists from the US, as figures released by the Bermuda Hotels Association (BHA) also showed hotel occupancy numbers declined between four and 10 percent for four of the first five months of 2008 compared to the same period last years.

But one man is looking to change all that.

Janpieter (JP) Martens, the general manager of Grotto Bay Beach Hotel, was elected as president of the BHA last month and he is looking forward to the challenge of resurrecting the Island's flagging tourism sector and, in particular, the hotel trade.

"It is an opportunity to serve the hotel community and the country in these challenging times that we were forced into due to the economic downturn in our largest feeder market (the US)," he said. "Prior to my appointment as president, I have for the last few years been the chairman of the Bermuda Alliance for Tourism and this is new role is another progression, and I believe these are times that we have to build from strength-to-strength and pool all of the hotels' partners here in Bermuda from small and medium to large-sized properties together and work together to promote the destination and our industry for future success."

Mr. Martens, who hails from the Netherlands, moved around Europe due to his father's job, and frequently stayed in hotels, which is where his love for the industry comes from.

He went on to study hotel management at college in Austria before launching his career in the US and then moved on to the Bahamas, finally arriving on Bermuda's shores 14 years ago, and he has not looked back ever since.

Mr. Martens, aged 50, started as general manager at Grotto Bay in 1994 and has made a number of big changes and improvements to the resort both physically and in terms of guest services and staff relations during his time in charge, including a big refurbishment project which is expected to be completed this winter.

Now he has the added responsibility of fronting Bermuda's hotel trade on the international stage in the post of BHA president.

"The role of president is is basically to present the Bermuda hotel community and to assist the staff in the Bermuda Hotel Association and help them to continuously further develop the Association," said Mr. Martens.

"It is an additional responsibility, but there are very able staff at the Bermuda Hotels Association that basically take care of the day-to-day care of the Association and adding numerous committees and committee chairs that deal with issues within the organisation from marketing to committee resources."

He said the main reason he decided to come to Bermuda was because it is a spectacular holiday destination, with friendly people, as well its geographical proximity to the US.

From a hotel perspective, the Island provides holiday-makers with high satisfaction levels, successful repeat business and has a good reputation which it rightly deserves, said Mr. Martens.

But he reckons it faces a lot of the same challenges as other rival destinations, from the impact of a global economic downturn to a change in travel habits.

"Over the last eight years or so the challenges have been ever changing, from 9/11 to rising prices and economic slowdowns," Mr. Martens said.

"Bermuda obviously has very strong employment numbers and that is a challenge that we all cope with maintaining on a day-to-day basis.

"Bermuda also has a high standard of living and the hotel industry has a high labour cost.

"The Island is competing with the rest of the world and there are other destinations out there today that we did not know the names of 10 years ago.

"But, again the reputation, and it is a good reputation that Bermuda has, will continue to attract visitors to our shores.

"I think Bermuda has a tremendous opportunity with the Baby Boomers maturing. As they do so, I think some of the adventure travel will diminish and they will go for the shorter flight times and more proven destinations and I think Bermuda is perfectly set for that."

Mr. Martens, who is married to an American and has a 16-year-old daughter and son aged 14, believes one of the biggest tasks facing Bermuda is the turmoil in the US economy, which is having a knock-on effect on Europe and especially the UK.

He views the US economic slowdown as a double-edged sword, on the one hand with the declining dollar making it harder for Americans to afford holidaying on the Island, but on the other the strength of the euro and UK pound ensures Europeans get more value for their money.

However his advice to a young Bermudian interested in getting into the hotel trade is that although hours can be long and the job demanding, it is also very rewarding and fulfilling, with no two days the same and the opportunity to meet people with different cultures and backgrounds from across the world.

During his spare time, when he is not working at Grotto Bay and spending time with his family, Mr. Martens enjoys cycling, skiing and cooking.

"I think these are very exciting times for tourism and I think the new hotels which are coming on line will reinforce the hotel industry in this country," he said.