An Indian businessman visited Bermuda as part of his bid to break the world record.

Kashi Samaddar is trying to visit all 250 United Nations member countries and their dependent territories. Bermuda is his 206th country. While here he plans to check out Dockyard and go to the Music Festival.

Mr. Samaddar said part of the reason he wants to break the record is to show that Indians can be extremely well travelled.

"Indians need a visa to travel everywhere outside their country. There were times when I had opportunities to get an Australian or Canadian citizenship but I declined the offer because I wanted to prove to the world that an Indian is capable of travelling so much without changing his passport."

His closest competition is a German man who has been to 160 countries but Mr. Samaddar will not register with the Guinness Book of World Records organisation until he has visited more than 230 countries.

"They have approached me," he said. "But I still have a long way to go."

Mr. Samaddar, who is the director for Tonic Industries Holdings which manufactures audio visual merchandise, has spent more than $400,000 to funds his trips around the world. Now he is looking for sponsors who can help him with his travel so that he can finish it before 2010.

He also plans to set up a travel website to give people accurate information about travelling to various countries, in particular visa details. He noted that getting a visa to visit Bermuda was hassle free and that he has received a warm welcome from everyone he has met.

He left Bermuda on Sunday and his next stop is the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe, an island nation in the Gulf of Guinea, off the western equatorial coast of Africa.