Bermuda is perfectly suited to develop a one stop Internet site allowing tourists to book every activity they plan on the Island, the Bermuda National Tourism Conference heard last week.

Anna Pollock, who is helping Jersey in the Channel islands build such a system, said Bermuda was of similar size and could reap great benefits. Jersey, a 45-square-mile island with a thriving finance sector and population of 85,000, is constructing a Web network which includes every business on the Island.

When fully operational, tourists will be able to book flights, hotels, restaurants and activities on the site.

Ms Pollock, the chief executive officer of tourism web solutions company DestiCorp, told The Royal Gazette: "Bermuda is the perfect size. It is not too big, it has got a manageable number of providers and it has a strong brand.

"It is an Island, which means you can monitor activities in terms of numbers of visitors, so it is absolutely perfect for a system like this."

She told the conference that these integrated online destination sites were very complicated and costly, and will not generate great sums of money but resorts could not afford to do nothing.

When asked if she thought they were cost-effective, she said: "Yes. If you expect to make a lot of money from it, think again. If you think about using it to bring people to Bermuda who will spend a lot of money who you don't want to lose, you have got to proceed.

"The prospects for Bermuda if you start to get really involved are very positive. There is a lot of ignorance and people are afraid because things are changing quickly, but you should not fear losing when you stand a chance of gaining so much more.

"This isn't something you can drift into. It's a big undertaking."

She said a Website set up by the Irish Tourist Board in the mid-1990s cost some $24 million, but was sold recently to a private company for $1.

The Jersey system was established 18 months ago as part of a ten-year plan for the island and followed consultation with 500 businesses and groups.

Elizabeth Jeffreys, the chief executive of Jersey Tourism, which runs the government-funded system, said initially there was great hostility from some on the island, but now even the critics were beginning to see the benefits.

She said: "In this age, it's going to be our biggest competitive advantage. Tourism and travel are the biggest users of the Internet and this will be our major growth potential.

"It would absolutely be good for Bermuda. From being here I can see the similarities between the challenges you face here and what we face in Jersey."