The Ministry of Tourism denied that a recently hired advertising agency had not gone through a proper tendering process as suggested by two members of the Opposition at the Senate last week.

Director of Tourism, Cherrie Whittier, said the comments made by Opposition senators were ?unfortunate? because many people were celebrating the fact that the agency is black-owned.

GlobalHue, was named the Department of Tourism?s Advertising Agency of choice earlier this year. The agency will produce TV and radio adverts to promote Bermuda to East Coast Americans for the next three years. Senator Kim Swan suggested the deal between Government and GlobalHue was struck in a questionable manner during a Senate session last week.

?We had the hiring of the new agency GlobalHue. When the Minister had the principal hired as a consultant, was there consultation? No. There was a back door mechanism done at the last minute to offer up a contender,? he said.

Sen. Bob Richards also questioned the tender process which resulted in the hiring of GlobalHue. He added that he was surprised that GlobalHue had won the bid because they have no experience in resort tourism. The comments made by Opposition members did not sit well with the Government senators.

Junior Tourism and Transport Minister Sen. Walter Roban called on Sen. Swan to apologise: ?The comments were outright inflammatory and plain wrong.?

Yesterday, Mrs. Whitter said the review started in October and lasted over three months. She added that it followed the same process that the Ministry of Tourism has used since opposition member David Dodwell?s was in charge of the Ministry of Tourism.

?Agency Reviews are conducted in a fairly standard way,? she said. ?The standard process involves an independent Review Committee that is comprised of both Government and private sector partners, regardless of the Government of the day.

?The best practice was applied in the selection of the right agency,? she said. ?Globalhue demonstrated the right strategic thinking and more importantly, GlobalHue demonstrated an understanding of Bermuda?s brand challenge. It is unfortunate that Sen. Swan?s comments come at a time when others are celebrating the historical achievement of a Black-owned agency.?