A Canadian travel agent says Bermuda is killing off its tourism industry by closing down its North American offices.

The claim, however, has been refuted by the Department of Tourism, which says visitor numbers have actually increased by 20 percent since the start of the year.

Canadian Ann-Boyd Skinner, 75, has grown increasingly frustrated at what she claims is a lack of assistance from Bermuda's tourism offices.

Miss Skinner runs antours in East York, Ontario, and has been taking tour groups to Bermuda for the past 20 years.

She said that since the closure of offices in Halifax and Toronto last year, she is finding it impossible to make contact with representatives.

"The only number you can get now is for New York. If you call the Bermuda tourist office you are told to phone that office, but they usually can't be bothered to call you back," said Miss Skinner.

"The people of Bermuda are charming and will do anything for you, but I think Bermuda is going all the wrong way to attract visitors.

"I recently took 16 people to the Island and they loved it, but you can't just close down your tourist offices willy nilly.

"You can't get the information you need because you can't get anyone to call you back from New York. I wanted some 'what's on' brochures but there was nowhere to get them from.

"All this will do is slow tourism down."

Director of Tourism Cherie Whitter, however, says that visitor numbers are buoyant, despite the closure of the North American offices.

Mrs. Whitter said: "We take all industry and visitor concerns very seriously, and as such the Bermuda Department of Tourism will look into these particular allegations.

"As it relates to our North American offices, a decision was made to close all North American satellite offices between 2005 and 2006, because the infrastructure associated with maintaining multiple office locations was not bearing fruit.

"This widely publicised change was a significant part of the restructuring of the Department, which resulted in sales staff being transitioned to home-based offices. The move was in keeping with the evolution of the travel industry."

Mrs. Whitter said that despite the closures, Bermuda recorded 641,717 visitors in 2006, an increase of 120,693 on 2005, and "one of the highest years in total visitation in recent history".

She added tourist numbers were continuing to swell, with a 23 percent rise in visitors recorded in January and a 20 percent increase reported in February.

"In light of these significant arrival numbers, criticism about the office closures is a weak argument," claimed Mrs. Whitter.

"In fact, we feel quite the opposite. We are confident that the decision to close the satellite offices has been beneficial to our tourism revitalisation efforts, and this is evidenced by increased visitor arrival figures since 2005."

As well as calling their regional representative, Mrs. Whitter advises travel agents to contact the Department of Tourism at: 1-212-818-9800; 1-800-Bermuda; or 1-800-223-6106.

Information and help is also available by e-mailing: travel@bermudatourism.com