Government yesterday gave the thumbs up to a vital blueprint put forward by the tourism industry to drive the revitalisation of the sector.

The public and private sectors are now moving forward together with a massive programme which could radically change the way Bermuda is sold overseas and by whom.

At a launch party held at Camden yesterday, Tourism Minister David Allen endorsed the Bermuda Tourism Private Sector Long Term Strategy and signalled the next stage in the plan.

He outlined four modules to tackle issues raised by the report and brought back on board Boston-based management consultants Monitor to help target the Island's market.

The use of Monitor, via their subsidiary group On The Frontier, was essential to find the avenues that would enable Bermuda to find more upscale visitors, he said.

"This is an essential component as Bermuda repositions itself to attract more high-end visitors staying in more high-end properties,'' he said.

"Bermuda can only cater to a limited number of visitors if it is to maintain the quality and integrity of the experience that attracts those visitors in the first place.'' The public backing to the report comes after months spent by the "conduit team'' which assembled a document supported by the majority of the hospitality and related industries.

Its final draft included a goal of adding 1,000 hotel beds, limiting cruise ship passengers to 6,000 a day and increasing hotel occupancies to 70 percent Island-wide.

The team, which was comprised of hoteliers Michael Kaile, Mike Winfield and Billy Griffith, Chamber of Commerce representatives Cris Valdes-Dapena and Ian Smith, and restaurateur Theresa Chatfield, added that Bermuda should focus on wealthy clients with household incomes of $100,000 plus.

They also indicated the industry and Government should agree on a single image for Bermuda's advertising and focus all marketing efforts toward that.

In addition, it stressed the need to increase off-season visitors and target European vacationers.

Mr. Griffith, the new Bermuda Hotel Association president, said the move would now give the plan some "legs''. He added that research would now help to ensure that people were on the same wavelength in terms of product and marketing strategies.

Ms Valdes-Dapena, the Chamber's president, said the goals in the report could be amended as time went on and Mr. Allen said they were "something to work towards''.

The joint initiative will now be structured around four modules, which include: A joint marketing plan which refocuses the efforts of the public and private sector and targets customers identified in the report; Production of an overseas distribution strategy based on a better understanding of trends in hotel and travel industries; A description of the "product pipeline'' to assess how and when the new developments, such as services or hotels, will come on line and how they will meet visitors' needs; and Identification of the people and organisations to ensure the process continues.

Monitor will work with the Department of Tourism until the end of the year and representative Joe Babiec said it would carry out research on specific issues to assist the plan.

In addition, he said it would try to find a way of marrying the statistics provided by the industry and the Department of Tourism.