The Castle Harbour Hotel rises from the ashes, tourists pack Bermuda beaches and the sails again ? but only in Dockyard.

Bermudians and visitors alike can now re-experience the glory days of Bermuda tourism at ?Destination Bermuda?, a permanent showcase at the Commissioner?s House at the Bermuda Maritime Museum.

?It catalogues the rise and decline of modern tourism, but also the avenues now being taken such as cultural tourism and event driven tourism,? said acting curator Rosemary Jones. ?The Bermuda Maritime Museum is a part of that. We hope that tourism will grow stronger. We have tried to be a little more forward looking.

One part of the exhibit is called ?New Directions?. It looks at St. George?s as a World Heritage Site. It talks about the World Rugby Classic and how that is now a focus. Perhaps that is the evolution.?

In today?s tourism climate, some of the exhibits, especially the photo of Horseshoe Bay Beach during College Weeks, are hard to believe.

?We have progressed from beaching holidays,? said Ms Jones. ?It is an eye opener even for people who grew up in Bermuda in the seventies. I remember college weeks, but to look back in old photographs and to see those pictures of hundreds of people on the beach...?

The centrepiece of the show is a large half-model of the cut in half and painted on one side to depict a myriad of activities going on in the ship. ?The model came from the South Street Seaport Museum in New York,? said Ms Jones. ?We have done some minor repairs to it. It is nice to put it on display.

?So many people remember the , worked on it or knew someone who worked on it. It tugged at a lot of Bermuda heartstrings. We have a lot of artefacts from the ship.?

The half-model was originally used by the Furness Bermuda Line as a promotional tool. The Maritime Museum staff hopes to expand ?Destination Bermuda? and as is asking for people to look in their basements, attics, and closets for memorabilia, photos and artifacts pertaining to Bermuda tourism that they might like to donate.

Several people have already done this. On display are the Donald and Barbara Stephens Postcard Collection and the Fred C. Barnes Collection of postal covers, among other things.

?We want to paint the big picture of tourism,? said Ms Jones. ?This tells the story in a very condensed way. We hope to build on our collection of tourism memorabilia.

?We?d love to talk to people to find out their stories and memories. We are building on our research. Because of the depth involved or involvement that so many had in the industry we?d like to gather more information.?

According to Ms Jones, Bermuda?s very first tourists weren?t really tourists as we know them today, because Bermuda in its early days was considered a wilderness backwater.

?They were traders, writers and military men who dropped into the island during the 19th Century, as did accidental visitors, such as convict labourers and Prisoners of War,? she said.

?But the concept of ?vacation? ? to explore, paint, write, recuperate from ill-health-did not become fashionable until the 1880s when the daughter of Queen Victoria, Princess Louise, arrived on the island for a holiday.

?Princess Louise?s visit in January 1883 was when tourism was recognised as something Bermuda could build its future on.

?Over the next 100 years, Bermuda staked its livelihood on the industry and developed its own brand of tourism,? Ms Jones said.

Since that time many rich and famous people have travelled to Bermuda including painters Winslow Homer, Georgia O?Keefe, and writers Mark Twain and Tom Moore, actress Shirley Temple and baseball legend Babe Ruth to name a few.

?When Tucker?s Town developed that elite group really started being courted by the authorities,? she said.

The Bermuda Maritime Museum worked closely with Canadian history professor Duncan McDowall author of ?Another World. Bermuda and the Rise of Modern Tourism?.

?He was a wealth of information,? said Ms Jones. ?He has really done the most research on tourism. He has been a long time supporter of the museum. We really relied on his research.?

As a result of Mr. McDowall?s work, ?Destination Bermuda? also looks at the seamier side of Bermuda?s tourism, touching on the blatant racism that was directed against black and Jewish visitors by local hotel owners during certain periods of our history.

?Destination Bermuda? is sponsored by Allan and Gill Gray, and is the latest in a series of exhibitions at the Commissioner?s House to showcase Bermuda social and cultural themes.

The Commissioner?s House at the Bermuda Maritime Museum is open daily 9.30 a.m. - 5 p.m. Members free, adults $10, seniors $8, children $5, children under age five free.