provided, a Government Senator said yesterday.

And despite Opposition claims to the contrary, Sen. Gary Pitman said Government had imposed `intelligent taxes'' on visitors.

"We only have two taxes on tourists,'' he said. "The departure tax and the hotel occupancy tax.'' Despite Sen. Pitman's upbeat attitude, PLP spokesman Sen. Terry Lister said "tourism was in a state of flux.'' And he questioned whether it was true that tourists were being taxed intelligently when countries such as Jamaica had a $16 departure tax and no other Caribbean Island had a tax of more than $15.

However, Sen. Pitman pointed out that this was not true because the Bahamas had a departure tax of $18.

Moreover, Sen. Lister said a 0.9 per cent increase in air arrivals could never be construed as a recovery for the industry.

But Sen. Pitman maintained that air arrivals were up to 415,923 and cruise ship visitors had increased 12 percent.

Although European visitors stay longer and spend more money, Sen. Pitman said businessmen from the United States spent more money per day.

Sen. Pitman said that the Tourism Ministry will target special interest groups such as golfers and marathon runners to the Island. During Spring Break, the Ministry has moved away from college weeks to promoting sports teams that are more disciplined.

As safety continues to be a number one concern, the Ministry has established a committee of hotel, Police and Fire personnel to monitor the standards at local properties.

Sen. Pitman said Bermuda needed to build a new hotel because this would generate interest inside and outside of the industry especially since the Island has not had a new hotel built since the Southampton Princess was constructed 20 years ago.

But Sen. Lister said Government must ensure that its marketing efforts were not set in stone and he pointed out that the $1 million set aside for administration in the $16 million marketing budget looked wasteful and could be better spent developing the South American and German markets.

While applauding the Ministry for finally targeting African American tourists, controversy over the Black Masters tournament did not help matters.

"There are plenty of black professionals beyond the $70,000 income bracket with money to spend,'' he said.

Sen. Lister said he hoped that the Ministry was staying abreast of changes in technology that could soon make travel agents redundant.

When that time came, he said the tour markets and charter business will become more important and the future may lie here.

Sen. Lister said the Ministry should liaise with experts in the Vancover Air Authority to see if Bermuda could get in on the Singapore market that would bring the country into contact with wealthy residents from the Far East.

The Senate also passed several pieces of legislation including; The Customs Tariff Amendment Act 1995; the Stamp Duties Amendment Act 1995; The Stamp Duties Amendment (No. 2) Act 1995; The Passenger Tax Amendment Act 1995; and the Payroll Tax Act 1995.