The Corporation of St. George's will be rethinking their efforts for twinning their city with Charleston, South Carolina, after learning that the decision could put Bermuda tourism at serious risk.

The threat to local tourism could come ifthe National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) extended their boycott of Charleston to include Bermuda.

The NAACP has instituted a boycott of the South Carolina tourism industry and, in particular, the state capital Charleston to pressure the state's General Assembly to refrain from flying the Confederate flag in a position of sovereignty.

The move has already cost the town an estimated $100 million since the sanctions began on January 1, 2000.

According to the NAACP, several organisations and entertainers have cancelled meetings in the state including: the National Association of Federal and Postal Employees; the New York Knicks basketball team; the American Bar Association, Southeast Conference United Church of Christ; the National Urban League; Progressive National Baptists Convention; and the Association of American Colleges and Universities.

Corporation Mayor, Lois Perinchief, yesterday stressed that the twinning plans were still in a preliminary stage.

"Nothing is final at this point,'' she said. "There is nothing really definite and certainly no final decision has been made.

"We will certainly now have to take a very serious second look at the whole idea,'' she continued, "but we were looking at a number of different cities, not just Charleston.'' Tourism Minister David Allen admitted he knew of the boycott and conceded that, although it was a matter for the Corporation of St. George's, he would look into it further.

"The Corporation did ask for my endorsement about a year ago,'' he said, "but that was long before this all blew up. I did endorse it, but will look at the matter again.

"We have a couple of members of the Corporation that sit on the Tourism Board so it will be discussed,'' he added.

But Chairman of the Tourism Board and St. George's Progressive Labour Party MP Delaey Robinson down played the whole matter. He said he had become very familiar with the issue during a recent trip to the area. He offered his personal opinion on flying the Confederate flag holding that it would be "too bad'' if it was gotten rid of entirely.

"There is a need to keep it as a reminder,'' he said.

"If you pull down all the remnants of history and get rid of them so that they are never seen again it would be too bad.'' But the NAACP have not called for eradication of the flag and suggest that it either be encased and placed in the Confederate relic room at the University of South Carolina, displayed as one of the several carried by South Carolinians during the battle of major wars, or used as an emblem in a monument.

Mr. Robinson expressed confidence that the issue would be resolved in the US and noted: "This puts a new spin on the twinning but when the matter is resolved, then twinning will be a non-issue.'' Marketing executive Murray Brown described a move to twin with Charleston as suicide for the local tourism industry.

"It would be the worst thing that could happen,'' he said. "We already have a few strikes against us as in the past blacks have not been made to feel welcome here,'' he continued.

"This would be a nail in the coffin.

"And while the onus is on the Corporation of St. George's, I think Government's response to this issue will determine the extent to which Government is interested in attracting black tourists.'' DISCRIMINATION DIS