A ?disgrace? ? that?s what Bermuda Deputy Premier Ewart Brown called the $7.50 per passenger head tax that cruise companies are required to pay the US Virgin Islands Government for each day they?re in port.

In Bermuda, the fee has stood at $20 per passenger, nearly three times that of the Virgin Island?s rate, for more than a decade.

Representing Bermuda at the Tenth Annual Multinational Caribbean Business Conference in St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands last week, Dr. Brown told delegates that last year this tax generated about $25 million for the Bermuda Government, when about half of the Island?s 500,000 visitors arrived by sea.

Although more than 1.3 million cruise passengers touched foot on St. Thomas last year, head taxes raised a markedly lower total for the territory?s Government ? $15 million.

?I say you ought to get more,? Dr. Brown told Edward Thomas, chief executive officer of the West Indian Company.

The two men were panellists at a presentation session entitled ?Building Business Strategies for Global Competitiveness Through Travel and Tourism? at the conference which wrapped up on Sunday.

Mr. Thomas said he would like to see the Virgin Island?s head tax fee ?gradually increased? to $10 over the the next three to five years.

Although a range of hot-button tourism topics ? including all-inclusive resort models and regional cooperation versus competition ? were touched upon over the weekend, the head tax issue generated the most buzz among the elected officials on the panel discussion.

One of the 60 audience members stood up and called the Virgin Islands? $7.50 rate ?ludicrous?. Another asked Dr. Brown what leverage Bermuda has that enables the country to demand a $20 per passenger fee, the highest cited for a Caribbean destination.

According to WICO, the Virgin Islands Port Authority, the Bahamas charges $15 per passenger, while Virgin Islands competitor, St. Maarten charges $5. Puerto Rico recently reduced its rate from $13.25 to $11.30.

Dr. Brown cited as leverage two factors: Bermuda?s geographic separation, since it lies farther from other islands than St. Thomas does and its strong appeal among passengers.

Cruise lines, he said, clamour to come to Bermuda, adding that country ?limits? this because it prefers air arrivals.

?Most destinations have found out that air visitors have a larger contribution to make to your economy than the cruise visitors do,? he said, adding that resort vacationers stay in their destinations longer and therefore spend more money.

?But a cruise visitor is better than no visitor at all.?

Dr. Brown told the delegation that if the Virgin Islands worked together with neighbouring islands, then it already could have increased the rate.