Local hotels look set to experience mixed fortunes over the Millennium holiday.

As tourism worldwide falls short of what was predicted to be an extremely busy period, some Bermuda properties are looking forward to a buoyant time whilst others will be quieter than a normal New Year.

Whilst some accommodations have increased rates and put together special packages, others have refused to hike prices above normal for their regular clientele.

Many travellers simply opted to stay at home, refusing to pay a higher price and others had concerns over technology problems on the Millennium.

And for those who have wanted to come, some have experienced difficulty in obtaining flights on their selected dates.

In addition, many properties are hoping to fill extra rooms with special packages available to locals.

Sonesta Beach Hotel general manager Dennis Tucker predicted his South Shore, Southampton property would be around 80 percent full over the New Year period.

"We are running special value package deals. But I think people that may have been considering travelling are probably staying at home,'' he said.

"We will have a number of visitors from abroad, but it will be around 50/50 with locals.

"We haven't dramatically increased rates. We are offering some very nice packages over the holiday period.'' The Fairmont Southampton Princess is suffering more than most, heading for a 55 percent occupancy when normally they would be expecting to be 90 percent full.

Paule Riverin, director of marketing and sales, said early publicity which suggested higher prices for the Millennium put many people off, as did concerns over any Y2K difficulties.

"It was not because we didn't try to market the Millennium, unfortunately we got feedback that people are just not interested in travelling over this time,'' she said.

"People are scared technology will not be up to par. A lot of people feel that they would rather stay with family.'' And she added that many hotels had initially thought that the Millennium event would "add value'' to their deals but this had not proved so.

Numbers at the Southampton Princess will be boosted by many locals taking advantage of several packages on offer.

"Locals have always been very supportive at this time of year,'' she added.

Cambridge Beaches will be full as will the Pompano Beach Club -- which closed reservations for New Year 18 months ago.

Larry Lamb general manager of Pompano said the main reason was their rates had been kept the same as normal, looking after their repeat customers who come year after year.

"We have a lot of guests who come down every single year. We are looking for the long term. If I went to a restaurant each week and all of a sudden I had to pay three times as much for the same thing, I would have a problem with that,'' he said.

"You are not going to be able to make enough money in five days to tick off a core section of your business. It is a really sensitive thing, for first-time visitors it is probably not a big deal but for repeat guests it doesn't seem fair.'' Paget hotel White Sands is also sold out and new general manager Esan Frederick said they had also kept rates as per normal. And Newstead was also reporting "a pretty full'' time with rates a "little bit'' higher.

All-inclusive resort Harmony Club is expecting to hit between 85 and 90 percent occupancy in its 68 rooms.

President Billy Griffith said business would be marginally down on last year and hinted that some customers had cancelled because of difficulties with air travel.

"It was a combination of the airfare being too high and not being able to get the availability ,'' he said.

"Bermuda is no different from a number of destinations. The Caribbean is way off target. Our difficulty was the airline seat availability.'' And Ms Riverin, of the Southampton Princess, added: "We had an accessibility problem. Six months ago when we tried to get seats, they just weren't available.

"Then airlines released space but it was too late in people's decision making process.''