dropped dramatically, the Tourism Minister has told a group of bankers.

And signalling a possible shift in Cabinet thinking, David Dodwell yesterday advocated deregulation in a number of areas with a review of Bermuda's rigid liquor licensing laws already underway.

Rules on al fresco dining, restricted hours for the sale of alcohol, evening fireworks and noise pollution should be revisited, he said, especially in terms of their effect on tourism.

Speaking to the Chartered Institute of Bankers, Mr. Dodwell said just 59 percent of visitors surveyed during 1995 felt they had received value for money, compared to 72 percent the year before.

He said the drop was "disturbing'' and "unacceptable''.

And a key target for dissatisfied travellers was Bermuda's restaurants, which prompted the Minister to offer restaurateurs some assistance in correcting the problem.

The second complaint was that transportation systems on the Island were inflexible and too expensive, and don't work for a vacation resort.

On that point, the Minister said: "Our transportation, as it relates to tourism, is back in the 50s and 60s. We are not user friendly. We are not flexible.'' He said some tough decisions will have to be taken on transport issues, and he backed a recent The Royal Gazette editorial which advocated water taxis. He also agreed with an editorial that called for a review of transportation issues.

And such a review should consider hotel courtesy buses from the Airport, a South Shore "jitney'' service and private limousines.

Mr. Dodwell said that while the Department of Tourism in past years conducted tourism surveys and studies, they failed to obtain the results of other ready-made surveys that better indicated what contemporary travellers wanted.

He said that vacationers are in charge of travel expenditure like never before, and everyone in Bermuda has to be a part of keeping tourists happy.

"It would be difficult to reduce our costs to the levels of places like Cancun where labour is available at 25 cents an hour and for every person who has that job, there are nine people lined up ready to take it.'' The exit survey also revealed that 65 percent of the visitors polled left the Island happy with their vacation, three or four percent off the previous year's level.

"My question,'' said Mr. Dodwell, "is what about the other 35 percent. What are they saying to their friends and travel agents.'' Mr. Dodwell said that the water around Bermuda is the most under-utilised, under-marketed aspect of the Island. Efforts are underway to improve that, including an effort to get tourist-oriented water users to work together.

Hotels under fire: Page 2