The Leader of the Opposition has responded to the Premier's accusation that an eight-month tourism 'off-season' is a "figment of his imagination".

Tourism Minister Dr. Ewart Brown claimed Kim Swan's comments that the Island's 'off-season' had expanded to eight months was not in keeping with industry statistics.

Dr. Brown said: "The 'eight month off-season' is a figment of Mr. Swan's imagination and is not consistent with what we know about the industry. In 2007, hoteliers experienced higher occupancy than in 2006, which was better than 2005. We choose to read those figures as uplifting rather than depressing."

Mr. Swan, UBP Leader and Shadow Tourism Minister, had said he was concerned about visitors staying away from Bermuda outside of the peak summer months. On Sunday he said: "Statistics and hotelier statements indicate the off-season is now eight months long, from the start of September to the end of April.

"This represents a decline of historic proportions that has been partly masked by the Island's reliance on unprecedented numbers of cruise ship visitors."

Yesterday, Mr. Swan issued a statement in response to the Premier's remarks earlier this week.

The UBP Leader said: "Important to any vision for a better Bermuda is the commitment by community leaders to conduct civil discussion on any issue with due regard for the facts. The Premier's response on Monday to our statement on the need for more intense focus in our traditional tourism market to increase air visitors offers a case in point.

"Our contention that the tourism off-season has stretched to eight months, from early September to the end of April, was dismissed as a 'figment' of our imagination and inconsistent with Government knowledge about the industry. Our observation on the off-season was drawn from official statistics and comments by hoteliers. Instead of dismissing the observation as a figment of someone's imagination, we would hope the Premier could argue the facts.

"Here are a few: hotel occupancy in Bermuda from September through April averages 56 percent; 2007 'off-season' hotel occupancy rates as reported by the Bermuda Government are September 62.7 percent, October 66.7 percent, November 59.6 percent, December 42.3 percent, January 41.4 percent, February 45 percent, March 63.2 percent, April 72.1 percent.

"Beyond statistics, anyone can make a judgment on the issue. Look around and decide — is Bermuda busy with tourists? Are hotels charging high-season rates?

"Workers in hotels and related industries are adversely affected by the expanded off-season, and the challenge we face is to turn this around.

"We want our tourism industry to succeed as much as the next person. Where we differ from the Premier is that we believe the people should be given the clearest understanding of the state of the industry, not spin. Knowing that the off-season now stretches across most of the calendar year is important to understanding the challenge of returning success to our former number-one industry."