Bermuda's heritage can be one of the biggest attractions in persuading visitors to come to the Island.

Retiring principal curator of the Bermuda Aquarium Museum and Zoo, Richard Winchell, shared this opinion with members of the Hamilton Lions Club yesterday.

Mr. Winchell told Hamilton Lions the Island's unique past, both above and below the water, was something which many visitors may be looking for when they visit the Island.

"A large number of visitors are looking for an education experience,'' he said.

"It is special for these institutions to be a part of tourism.'' Mr. Winchell said it was important for Government and institutions, like BAMZ and The Bermuda National Trust and the other various historical organisations, to continue being a part of the tourism industry.

He added that he saw these organisations as having played a vital part in the process.

He also made reference to the heritage passport. The passport gives visitors the ability to learn more about Bermuda's past by introducing them to the eight main museums dedicated to Bermuda's heritage.

Going through the history of the organisation from its inception in 1928 by L.L. Mowbray to its development over the intervening years, Mr. Winchell began to focus on the changes which were on the horizon.

One area in which the BAMZ has been looking at for some time has been education. Mr. Winchell said the BAMZ is working closely with the Department of Education to develop an endowment to help in educational building.

"It will help to train our own people,'' he added. "BAMZ has been able to create an endowment for the people.'' Mr. Winchell also pointed out that by giving people first-hand knowledge about Bermuda's endemic life they will walk away with the appreciation of the environment.

He noted that BAMZ was currently running a programme which focused on bio diversity. The project is being used to catalogue specimens found around the Island. They are collected and the information about them is stored in a database.

He said programmes like this aid in telling Bermuda's story right down to the creatures which inhabit the oceans around the Island.

Talking tourism: The Aquarium's Richard Winchell told a noon-hour feeding of the Hamilton Lions that putting the island on the maps as a world heritage destination is one way of assuring the long term health of the tourism industry.

TOURISM TOU