Government senator said yesterday.

Senator Calvin Smith made the statement yesterday as he outlined Government's "rescue mission'' to save the local tourism industry.

Quoting statistics from various reports, including the Archer Report, Sen.

Smith said there are a third fewer Bermudian males than females in the total work force.

He also pointed out the total decline in the hotel workers -- under the UBP's "watch'' -- from 5,263 in 1979 to 4,146 in 1997 had hit workers hard.

"These jobs are not taken by foreigners, they're just gone,'' said Mr. Smith.

And speaking of the industry in general, Mr. Smith said cruise ship arrivals and visitor numbers from Europe, Canada, and the rest of the world had increased, but US arrivals and total expenditures continued to decline.

Mr. Smith cited numerous statistical data and economic recommendations which showed tourism's decline over the past ten years.

And he warned that initiatives taken by Caribbean and Latin American countries showed these countries were "aggressively going into new areas'' and "coming after us like a house on fire''.

However, Mr. Smith said Tourism Minister David Allen, the Tourism Board, and the Tourism Action Group were working for the "rebirth of tourism''.

Reassessing strategies used by the Department of Tourism, encouraging more locals into the field, and returning to and rewarding traditional Bermudian values were some of the ways the Island could increase its market share, he said.

And he said the high percentage of money spent globally on the leisure industry showed the potential for the Island's future development.

"If the major hotels are continuing in Bermuda, they are continuing with the hope that Bermuda will turn itself around,'' said Mr. Smith.