destination, according to an article in an influential British newspaper.

Writing in the Daily Telegraph, which is bought by more than 1 million people a day, Mr. Andrew Gilligan says there are signs that the tourist industry on the Island is growing complacent.

And he says that with other, cheaper, destinations opening up in the region, Bermuda "might need to ask whether it offers value for money''.

In the article, Mr. Gilligan quotes Mrs. Jane Baldwin, from Pennsylvania, who paid about $7,500 for a two-week holiday with her husband.

"We really like it here (in Bermuda), but when you're paying so much money you expect the best and we haven't always got it,'' she is quoted as saying.

Mrs. Baldwin said in the article that the practice of a compulsory gratuity on prices gave staff no incentive to perform well.

"The whole point of a tip is that you can keep it back if you're not happy,'' she is quoted as saying. The article does not mention where Mrs. Baldwin stayed.

Mr. Gilligan, who stayed on the Island to research his article, said that in his own hotel room, which cost about $130 a night, none of the lights worked.

When they were not mended the following evening after he complained he checked into a different hotel.

He also spoke to Mr. Charles Stewart, a spokesman for the Bermuda Tourism office in London.

In the article, Mr. Stewart said it was "highly unusual'' for visitors to have a bad experience in Bermuda.

Mr. Gilligan quotes figures showing a drop of almost a quarter in the number of people arriving by air, from the 1987 peak of 550,000 to 414,000 last year.

He claims problems with high prices and poor service could prove a threat to the Island's tourism.