Ministers participated in a lively debate in the House of Assembly this week with Government accusing the Opposition of killing tourism and the Opposition accusing Government of burying it.

At issue was the Miscellaneous Taxes Amendment Act 2001, which raises the departure tax for air travellers from $20 to $25, and the cabin tax for cruise ship passengers from $12 to $14 in the high season and $8 to $10 in the low season.

Shadow Finance Minister Grant Gibbons said he had waited with "bated breath'' to see how Government would justify the increase and labelled the move as, "about as close as to a legislative 180 degree turn as you can get''.

Tourism Minister David Allen was not in the House of Assembly as he is promoting the Island overseas but Dr. Gibbons recounted his "apoplectic'' reaction to the last increase in 1995 when the tax was increased from $15 to $20.

Mr. Gibbons joked about the hours and days that Mr. Allen lambasted and condemned the former Government over the increase and was upset that he was not in the House for the debate.

During the discussions Government Ministers said they were "resuscitating'' tourism and felt that the increase -- which was labelled as a "minuscule'' amount -- would not affect people's decisions to come to Bermuda at all.

Shadow Tourism Minister David Dodwell said that of the 29 islands to the South of Bermuda, four had a departure tax less than $5, eight had a tax between $6 and $10, seven had a tax between $11 and $15, seven had a tax between $16 and $20 and only three had a tax over $20. Mr. Dodwell said Bermuda had one of the most expensive departure taxes in the Atlantic region, above the Bahamas departure tax of $20. Barbados and the Caymans Islands have a tax of $12.50 and Puerto Rico does not have a departure tax at all.

Works and Engineering Minister Alex Scott was holding for Mr. Allen and he told members of the House that one of the main reasons why Bermuda's tourism industry was lagging was the lack of beds.

And he said that the Hotel Concessions Act was aimed at creating more beds for visitors and he expected tourism to be turned around sooner than expected.

Cries of "Alex in Wonderland!'' and other jibes flew across the floor of the House and after more than an hour of lively debate, the matter was put to a vote and names were taken.

The Opposition was outvoted by 16 votes to 13 with nine members absent from the House and the Bill was passed.