More beds, cheaper fares, more flights, more people and a Bermuda which will make them want to come back is new Tourism Minister Ewart Brown?s simple formula for success.

Despite his excitement at taking over the Tourism Ministry after former Minister Renee Webb?s resignation, Dr. Brown is reining in his feelings in order to put the theory to practice as soon as possible.

That includes a shot of excitement for the Tourism Department, less focus on condos and more on hotel beds and an effort to put Bermuda?s money where its mouth is by giving tourists a product which will leave them wanting more.

?We are taking the same approach that we used over at Transport, simply because it got results,? Dr. Brown, who also holds the posts of Minister of Transport and Deputy Premier, told on Monday.

The approach at Transport is a ?problem-oriented? approach, he explained. ?We started with the more glaring issues and as we fixed them we were changing it.?

For example, ?The Transport Control Department used to be considered a ?house of grief? ... the public were depressed when they had to go there.?

Instead of hiring consultants to tell them about a problem they already knew was there, he continued, Transport moved to fix it right away.

That included removing the sign informing clients that if they had not reached the counter by 4.45 p.m. they would have to make another appointment the next day, regardless of how long they had been waiting.

It also included TCD director Kevin Monkman taking the leadership core at TCD for a day to talk about how they could continue on that same track. The team returned with buttons saying, ?Mission Possible?. Ever since, Dr. Brown said, the TCD experience has been less negative for the public.

Now, the Minister hopes to achieve the same thing with Tourism. ?Unless the people who work at the core are excited, it?s very difficult to excite people on the outside.?

By strengthening the actual department he said, he hopes to create a ripple effect which will extend outside Government and in to the actual tourism industry. ?I want to inject some pop and sizzle into tourism.?

Meetings with the entire Tourism staff, both from Bermuda and North America, within his first few days at the Ministry have been helpful in determining the route Dr. Brown wants to take.

?We had what I would call a ?spirited exchange?,? he said of his discussions with the Bermuda Tourism staff. ?It allowed me to understand where they are ... I think one of the first things we have to do is strengthen the office in Bermuda.

?I think spirits, morale and so on, can be lifted and improved. I believe that the office has to be a high-tech, responsive new centre in order for progress to work.?

That means building a new physical plant for the Department of Tourism in Bermuda, he added. ?I am certain we have outgrown the department headquarters. I will be making the case for a new headquarters.?

New Tourism Director Cherie Whitter will receive ?full support? when she takes her post in about three weeks, he said. ?She?s facing a difficult task.?

However solutions are ?not Earth-shattering?, he added.

?If the phone rings, answer it, if we receive a letter, we?ll write them back. It?s not cutting edge; it?s all very basic.?

By cleaning up the department he said, Bermuda will be able to put its money where its mouth is. Currently millions are spent on promoting the Island overseas he said, yet when tourists arrive, Bermuda is unable to respond. ?I?m embarrassed by that, personally and for the Government.

?We are going to work from the inside out.?

That is not to say that the problems are solely on the inside, he added. ?We have product issues, yes.?

Bermuda must enhance its entertainment possibilities, its service quality, and its lack of ?pop and sizzle?, he said. ?But in spite of all those things, people still love Bermuda. We can fix the product over time...

?I believe it is the Bermudian tradition of friendliness and warmth which grew tourism in the first place. I am concerned about Bermudians becoming spectators to tourism. I want to involve the Bermudian personality.?

And he hoped Bermudians would accept that to have improvement, they must accept change. ?I hope people won?t stand in the way with the NIMBY (not in my backyard) syndrome and fear of change.?

The chance to take over Tourism while maintaining Transport is a fortunate one, he said, as there is a ?natural fit and synergy? between the two.

Luring cheaper carriers to the Island is ?very high? on Transport?s priorities, and the chance to not only replace the pre-Fabian number of hotel beds on the Island but to stop the steady decline in hotel beds is an obvious compliment to bringing more airlines to Bermuda.

Noting it is unfair to judge Bermuda now by the number of beds which were available in the 1980s, Dr. Brown said it was more relevant to judge Tourism by the percent of beds which are currently on the Island that are being filled. ?You can?t fill beds that don?t exist.?

There is a trend in hotel development on the Island for condos and other residential units to be built for sale along with the hotel rooms, such as at the Newstead/Belmont site and Tucker?s Point.

However, Dr. Brown said, hotel rooms must be the priority in such developments, not condos. ?I am not impressed when you compare the speed with which condos are built, and the slow if any construction of hotel beds ... We need to call this for what it is. Let?s get some hotel beds.?

As for the perception that cruise ship visitors are less desirable as they traditionally spend less on the Island, Dr. Brown said: ?A cruise ship visitor is better than no visitor.?

With that in mind, much energy will be focused on re-energising Dockyard.

?It?s too sleepy, it needs to be livened up.?

Tourism will also be speaking with cruise ship lines about taking part in port refurbishment, he revealed.

And, he added, ?There are cruise ships ? and there are cruise ships.?

One Front Street jewellery store reported more than $40,000 in profits on one Saturday while the was in Hamilton.

As for what demographics he hopes Bermuda will cater to, Dr. Brown was careful to leave all possibilities open.

?Bermuda has always catered to the discerning visitor,? he said. ?Our economy speaks for itself.

?I?ll let those forces work themselves out. I won?t say we will only cater to this income or this income.

?My job is to sell Bermuda to the world. He or she who wants to come ? let them come.?