Travellers with "surfing'' in their blood will now be able to use computers to plan their Bermuda vacations.

The Department of Tourism has put an official home page on the World Wide Web.

Tourism Minister David Dodwell showed off the department's new marketing tool during a meeting with members of the hospitality industry yesterday.

He said: "This vehicle gives our potential visitors greater access to information about Bermuda and I am very excited about that.

"More people are using the Internet to access all kinds of information and it just makes sense for Bermuda to be involved.'' Mr. Dodwell said the move would also give potential visitors the opportunity to gain accurate information about Bermuda which would benefit the Island.

Tourism's assistant director of marketing Pat Phillip-Bassett said she felt the new web site would become a key part in promoting the Island to potential visitors.

Mr. Dodwell said the department had researched other sites on the Internet which were offered by tourist destinations and the new Bermuda site would be "leaps and bounds ahead of them''.

And the site would help strengthen ties between the department and the Island's private sector through the links it offered between its home page and business and hotel home pages, continued Mr. Dodwell.

The site was designed by Tourism's manager of promotional materials Michael Swan and has been implemented by Net Link Bermuda.

It is hosted by Acme Digital Lab and is connected directly to the Internet.

And industry giant Microsoft Corporation has designated the site as a showroom where other sites will be able to witness new software and development tools in action.

These new capabilities which include audio and video on-line plus secured credit card transfers for purchases and reservations via the Internet.

Presently the page allows web surfers to investigate a list of all the visitor properties available, sections on sports, sightseeing, dining and entertainment.

There are also pages of information about upcoming events on the Island, answers to some of the most frequently asked questions by visitors, the latest news from the Island and E-mail facilities.

The E-mail can be used to request literature or to leave comments about the site. Visitors can also use it to leave comments about their trip to the Island.

All the information on the page can be changed in a matter of hours, continued Mr. Dodwell, so figures such as rate changes and hotel occupancies could be kept up to date.

And to aid Internet users around the world who might be interested in coming to the Island, language options would also be available, he said.

David Dodwell