Some of Bermuda's top hotels are offering a summer special sure to please Bermudians and tourists alike — 50 percent off rooms until midnight.

The unprecedented special offer began yesterday at 12.01 a.m. and will finish tonight at 11.59 p.m. Organisers hope the sale will bring more visitors to the Island in light of falling tourism numbers.

Hotels participating include Surf Side Beach Club, Grotto Bay Beach Resort, Fairmont Hamilton Princess, Fairmont Southampton, Royal Palms Hotel, Newstead Belmont Hills, 9 Beaches, Coco Reef, The Reefs and Cambridge Beaches.

The sale is for hotel stay from yesterday until October 31 excluding blackout dates.

Bermuda Department of Tourism, Bermuda Hotel Association and Bermuda Alliance for Tourism have joined forces for the discount with hotel rooms as cheap as $175.

Tourism director William Griffith said: "The Department of Tourism again offers its resources to our partners at the BHA as they continue their efforts to stimulate business in this very difficult environment.

"A 50 percent sale, albeit for 48 hours, is unprecedented in recent times. This type of promotion will generate buzz about Bermuda, it will make the phones ring, and it will serve to let visitors know that Bermuda is competing for their business."

Advertised on Tourism's website, www.bermudatourism.com, the ad says: "Now is a great time to travel to our Island paradise. Experience pink sand, turquoise tropical water and vibrant culture.

"Hurry, Bermuda will always be here, but this special offer is ending soon."

Chairman for Bermuda Alliance of Tourism, Jonathan Crellin said: "It's exciting, It's here. We've been planning it for four or five weeks and it's coming on the heels of the success of the Southampton promotion."

Mr. Crellin explained his team were working closely with Mr. Griffiths' and the Bermuda Hotel Association.

"Billy, he's charged up with bringing people to Bermuda. It's an unprecedented peak offer. It's heavily focused on Internet and e-marketing and e-distribution.

"It's really interesting because it's the way of the future. We're anxious to see how it works."

Mr. Crellin said once the offer is finished, the team will sit down and look at how it went in order to decide whether or not to do it again.

Vice president of the Chamber of Commerce Diane Gordon welcomed the idea and said it was good news for Bermuda even if people were sceptical of the promotion.

"[There are] some people who say it is positive. I think it is what it is — a group of people not sitting back and doing nothing.

"I'm sure that some hotels think that if you discount you are selling yourself. But on the other hand if you're not having any business at all...I think that we as Bermuda Inc. should be doing as much as possible at encouraging new markets to come to Bermuda."

She continued: "What they're doing is they are trying to attract another market.

"Is that a bad thing? I don't think so at all. I like the idea."

Reservations can be booked online through www.bermudatourism.com or by calling the hotels directly.