More needs to be done to attract air visitors to revitalise Bermuda's tourism sector as they spend almost seven times as much compared to the average cruise ship visitor, according to one Senator.

And Shadow Tourism Minister Sen. Kim Swan said the Island must recapture its "romance and passion" for tourism.

"We have seen a tremendous loss of visitor expenditure and it is having a grave impact on the Bermudian economy," he told the Senate yesterday, saying that the typical air visitor spent $1,100 on the Island compared to $175 by a cruise ship visitor.

"Not all visitors are created equal and nowhere is that more so than between air visitors and cruise ship visitors.

"We have seen a proliferation of dependency on the cruise ships, we have seen a shift and we are playing a numbers game."

But where was the logic in that if it took between six or seven cruise ship passengers to make up the difference of one air passenger, he asked.

And there was another price to be paid by having the visitor balance tipped towards cruise ships.

According to Sen. Swan: "The cruise ships are in direct competition to the Island's tourism. There are merchants and franchises on the ships that are trying to keep as much money onboard the ships as possible."

The senator said the Island's $35 million tourism budget outspent its main rivals by three to five times but appeared to pander to a local audience rather than focusing on gateway cities such as Boston, New York and Baltimore.

He welcomed the efforts currently being made to woo potential visitors in London, but rounded off by saying: "Bermuda has lost its romance for tourism, that passion for tourism. It is mired in a top-heavy Government department."

And Sen. Swan urged the Government to speed up legislation surrounding timeshare holidays on the Island.

"Timeshare visitors are the ultimate customer. They return year after year. Those people are out there and right now they are feeling really disappointed with Bermuda.

"They are waiting for some legislation that they need and they have been promised repeatedly and I look forward to that legislation coming this side of Christmas, not at the end of the session before next year's summer recess."