High airfares to Bermuda can be partially pinned on the success of the Island?s international business sector presenting a skewed picture to airline companies who see high airfares readily being paid for by frequent business travellers.

The complexities of tourism were brought to light by Bermuda?s Director of Tourism Cherie-Lynn Whitter as she explained the Island?s unique position and the impact of its main economic pillar ? international business ? to the challenge of bringing cheaper airfares to help revitalise tourism.

?We have a strong business sector, as a result the airlines believe that the market can bear (the higher fares). The cost of airfares to Bermuda has presented a tremendous challenge,? she said yesterday at the 10th annual Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Investment Conference being held at the Fairmont Southampton Hotel.

Ms Whitter was part of a panel which discussed how and why some destinations have ?got it right? when it comes to marketing and promoting themselves.

Pushing ?Brand Caribbean? to the outside world was a key messages from Luther Miller, director of finance for the Caribbean Tourism Organisation, another of the panel members.

An audience heard that Bermuda and her Caribbean neighbours must work together, pooling resources and inventiveness to promote the region as a visitor destination.

The idea of working together was illustrated by Mr Miller, who described the CTO as an umbrella organisation that brought together 32 member countries to promote the Caribbean as a whole to create a global awareness for tourists. With some countries able to afford to put money forward, while other much smaller destinations have little or no marketing budget, the collaborative model made sense to help the entire region.

This is equally true when it comes to knitting together marketing dollars from the public purse and the private sector, according to Mr Miller.

?The challenge I?m faced with is constantly promoting that need for regional marketing ? bringing the 32 countries of the CTO together and taking care all of the niches. We have to be aware of the large, medium and small destinations,? he said.

?It is not only bringing private and public sector together but more importantly to have each party pay their way in the game and to a large extent you have small destinations with a small product and that means either small or non-existent market budgets so you have to find a way to keep them there and involved and the flag flying because with the small destinations they tend to be indigenously owned properties.?

When the public and private sectors work together for a shared benefit it can make a big difference. Bermuda has its own version with the Bermuda Alliance for Tourism, said Ms Whitter, but it has its challenges.

She explained: ?We are a unique destination we are a mature stage of our tourism lifestyle. We have experienced challenges with regard to ageing and reinvigorating our product.?

Referring to the Bermuda Alliance for Tourism she said: ?On the private sector side we find we are often challenged to get them to bring hard dollars to the table ? so typically it is the Government, the public sector dollars, that are being used while we are collaborating.

?We find the hoteliers will come to the table more readily than other stakeholders. How do you go beyond the hotel sector and get the participation from the human resource perspective and the financial perspective to participate?

?It?s an ongoing challenge. If we are going to make more noise in the market place it costs more money and pooling our resources is perhaps the most effective response.?

How this works elsewhere was shown by Caroline Beteta, executive director of the industry-led California Travel and Tourism Commission which this year has a $18 million budget for the US state?s $82.5 billion tourism industry. Some 60 percent of the budget is raised by the private sector with the remainder coming from the State Government.

?In California we have a very unique public-private partnership in terms of funding mechanism and how we market California as a travel destination. We have had quite a bit of success. It truly is an integrated partnership,? she said.

?The success is that it is truly industry driven. We have 37 board members that are all CEO or vice president level in the industry. They are directing the programme. It?s important to understand the branding of California.

As an example she said the Marriott Hotel in San Diego might not, on day one, see the worth of investing its marketing dollars in a collaboration to promote California as a whole but without taking this step the potential clients who might visit California and wish to stay at a Marriott Hotel would not be tempted to come to the West Coast state in the first place.

?So our industry really understands the importance of getting ?top line? awareness of the destination and providing sales opportunities for all the attractions and accommodations in our state.?

The panellists put forward Barbados and St. Lucia as examples of Caribbean countries that have ?got it right? as far as attracting visitors ? particularly repeat visitors.

On the subject of crisis management be it the devastating effect of a hurricane or, as experienced by Aruba last year when a young tourist went missing in suspicious circumstances, the importance of having a plan of action and telling the truth is paramount said Richard Khan, president of public relations company Khan Travel Communications.

He praised the authorities of Aruba for the way they handled themselves regarding the disappearance of American tourist Natalee Holloway and said: ?They were in a no-win situation from day one. Aruba was very open and truthful. They definitely handled it very well.?

Having a crisis action plan was important. Mr. Khan said: ?One thing you need to do is be prepared. You have to have a crisis communication plan in place.

?Our plan for the Caribbean region is over 30 pages long. That needs to be practised, there needs to be very specific spokespersons in place. Aruba had all this in place so they were able to react very quickly, That was the first good thing that they did.?

He contrasted Aruba with the actions of the Cayman Islands in the wake of Hurricane Ivan in 2004 when the Chief Minister had told more than 100 journalists that the Islands would be back up-and-running within weeks ? only for it to take months.

That statement had cost the Cayman Islands credibility in the eyes of the media for a long time afterwards, said Mr. Khan.