Opposition Leader Kim Swan claimed last night that Bermuda's tourism "off season" was now eight months long — a theory Premier Ewart Brown rejected as a "figment of his imagination".

Mr. Swan said he welcomed Government's recent half a million dollar promotional deal with the New York Mets but remained concerned about visitors staying away from the Island apart from during peak summer months.

The UBP Leader 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."

Tourism Minister Dr. Brown said he appreciated the support of Mr. Swan and "others who do not share our optimism in the future of tourism".

The Premier added: "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.

"Our optimism is shared by new developers who love Bermuda and see a bright future for us in the hospitality industry."

Dr. Brown announced the Mets deal three weeks ago and it includes a "Feel the Love Grand Slam Inning" announced to the crowd and "Feel the Love" branding posted on the big scoreboard at the top baseball team's home games.

If a Mets player hits a grand slam during an inning, a fan in the stands will win a trip for two to Bermuda.

There will be rotating television spots near the concession stands, concourse signage throughout the stadium and advertising spreads in the Mets Yearbook and Mets Magazine.

Mr. Swan applauded Government in a statement for continuing to focus its marketing on "reliable" markets like the US east coast and said the Mets deal was a "step in the right direction in Bermuda's biggest tourism market".

He added: "The need to focus more intensely on New York and other eastern seaboard markets is critical in turning around our tourism industry fortunes. Time will tell if the Shea Stadium promotion is money well spent. We hope it is.

"We have long argued for the Government to 'fish where the fish are' instead of spreading its marketing efforts too far beyond the core markets of the US east coast, which for many decades have provided Bermuda with the lion's share of its visitors and which continue to be the most reliable markets we've got."

The Opposition Leader argued that more needed to be done to get visitors here during the off season and asked what enticements were being offered to stop the decline.

"In the decades of mass tourism to the end of the 1990s, the industry's off season was limited to a four-month stretch — from the end of October to the start of April," he claimed.

"Hoteliers have stated that the near doubling of the off-season during the past decade has created huge economic challenges that dramatically threaten their business viability.

"We believe the economic pressures of extended low occupancies are unsustainable."

Mr. Swan said the Island was "virtually maxed out" with visitors during the high season and quoted hotelier Michael Winfield as saying that peak now only lasted from May to Labour Day.