Horseshoe Bay will continue to be an entertainment venue this summer ? ?complete, I might add, with a stage,? Tourism Minister Ewart Brown announced yesterday.

Meanwhile a new flight from Germany, a notable increase in air arrivals and a full schedule of entertainment for visitors and locals alike show that some movement is being made in tourism in Bermuda.

When asked if he felt he should apologise to those he had termed ?nay-sayers? in the wake of protests over the controversial stage erected by an overzealous contractor on Horseshoe Bay, Dr. Brown said yesterday he felt there was nothing to apologise for.

Two months ago Tourism met with the Department of Planning about the temporary structure, he said, and plans were given the go-ahead by Planning Director Rudolph Hollis. However, when the contractor jumped the gun on the actual erection of the stage, neighbours protested and Planning noted that the footing was too deep, qualifying the structure as a permanent one, not a temporary one.

So, Dr. Brown told those at a media luncheon at the Wyndham Resort, technical officers at Tourism were instructed to find out ?the best deal we can get? which qualifies as a temporary structure. What point in the Planning process any revised plans for the stage are at now, remained unspecified yesterday.

?A stage at Horseshoe Bay is not something new,? Dr. Brown added.

?I think we miss something when we don?t utilise our natural resources,? he said, adding that there are ways to use the environment without destroying it.

?We are in the habit of objecting ? if somebody is building next to your house, you object ... But there was no disrespect or disregard meant for the environment.?

Noting that he never actually called anyone a nay-sayer in the wake of protests by neighbours such as environmentalist Graeme Outerbridge, Dr. Brown said he felt an apology to anyone was ?not in order?. He was quoted in the Press as saying: ?We are not going to be stopped by the nay-sayers and unprogressive elements?.

The Minister also detailed several new Tourism and Transport initiatives yesterday, such as the new air service to Bermuda from Germany. On May 8, Lufthansa will begin air service from Frankfurt to Bermuda via Philadelphia ? a move Dr. Brown heralded as one step closer to the goal of direct service to Germany.

The flight is already being advertised on the Lufthansa website, . It will arrive daily in Bermuda at around 10 p.m., with Dr. Brown noting the Bermuda International Airport will be increasingly busy at night.

In the meantime the newly implemented American Airlines direct service to Miami has given an ?unprecedented performance?, the Minister said, with service load factors exceeding 85 percent since service began in March.

Air arrivals have increased by 12.4 percent in the first quarter of 2005 over the same time in 2004 to 39,416, while total arrivals have increased by 11.6 percent to 40,095 from 35,943.

With air visitors spending between $1,030-$1,133 (as opposed to $809-$1,187 last year), the first quarter of 2005 air arrivals contributed some $40.6-$44.6 million to the Island?s economy versus $28.4-$41.6 million last year.