Describing it as one of their most productive annual meetings, Government and hotel owners met at the Fairmont Southampton Hotel yesterday.

The meetings are an opportunity for both sides to discuss strategies to improve tourism arrival figures and hotel occupancy, key issues facing the Island?s hoteliers and the importance of partnership and co-operation between Government and hoteliers.

President of the Bermuda Hotel Association, Mike Winfield, said there was an agreed determination to focus on action, solutions and the future, as opposed to ?dwelling in the past?.

?Having attended probably as many of these meetings as anyone in Bermuda, I think it is fair to say that this is one of, if not the most productive meetings I have attended.?

?We have resolved a number of points for mutual consideration and these will be addressed over the coming weeks with a view to coming back together in the near future and agreeing definitive results-oriented action points,? he said.

Mr. Winfield said another difference this year was the reduced number of people from both sides who attended.

He said hotel owners has spent considerable time preparing presentations for Government?s consideration and hoteliers were delighted to hear both the Minister of Tourism and the Premier talk about the need for a ?tourism team?.

?We are committed to doing our part as elements of that team,? he said, adding that hoteliers entered the meeting with what is a commonly understood ?less than healthy perspective of the hotel industry to date?, but with a very clear belief that the health of the industry can be restored.

?What we heard today gave us hope towards that objective,? he said.

Premier Alex Scott told delegates that while there is no magic answer to how Bermuda can remain competitive in a fiercely competitive market, he was grateful that both groups were committed to combining their time, energy and resources to revitalising the Bermuda tourism product.

The Premier added that it was important for hotels to try and attract young Bermudians into the industry.

A financial update and report on the hotel industry as one of the country?s largest employers was given by the president-elect of the BHA and general manager of Elbow Beach Hotel, Frank Stocek.

Head of the hospitality division of PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Scott Berman, gave a talk on ?Bermuda, The Competitive Landscape?, benchmarking Bermuda?s challenges against those being experienced in Caribbean destinations such as Barbados, Cayman Islands, Bahamas, US Virgin Islands and British Virgin Islands.

Mr. Winfield said this presentation pointed out clearly what the challenges are facing hotels in the current economic environment in Bermuda.

Discussions also focused on the issues of the high costs of airfares to Bermuda, enhancing the destination experience for visitors, the branding of Bermuda?s image, revitalising the entertainment offered to visitors and mixed-use development of hotel properties.

Tourism Minister Ewart Brown told the meeting of several positive initiatives already being worked on by his Ministry that he believed would improve the Bermuda tourism product.

He said he was looking forward to working with the hoteliers to achieve a resolution of outstanding issues including changes to the Hotel Concessions Act which will be debated in the House of Assembly tomorrow. At the close of the meeting, the delegates resolved to meet early in the new year to report on a number of resolutions that had been put forward.

The Premier underscored the need for a collective team approach regarding tourism.