Efforts to draw more visitors from the US northeast have yet to bear fruit, according to Shadow Tourism Minister Michael Dunkley.

He said he was disappointed to see arrivals from that region fall, despite new tourism statistics showing an increase in visitors in the third quarter of this year compared with 2009.

"Visitors from Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Hampshire and Maine are all down," said Mr. Dunkley. "Thankfully it appears the new WestJet service has helped prop up our air numbers as visitors from Canada are up 26.51 percent."

During his final media address as Minister of Tourism and Transport, Premier Ewart Brown said total visitor arrivals increased by three percent this year.

Air arrivals were down by one percent Dr. Brown attributed the drop to the effects of Hurricane Igor which struck the Island in September.

"The first two months of the quarter, July and August, both showed increases in visitation by 3.1 percent and two percent respectively," the Premier said.

"The month of September differed, declining by 14 percent as the airport closed for two days while the Island was being battered by Hurricane Igor.

"This resulted in cancelled flights and reservations several days before and after the storm."

The Department of Tourism had been focusing attention on the northeast, with publicised partnerships with the Boston Red Sox and the New England Sports Network (NESN), he said.

Despite these efforts, Mr. Dunkley noted that air arrivals from the region fell by 3.5 percent.

"The Premier contends that emphasis has been given to our core market in the northeast, but these results do not show any fruit in the investment, especially the partnership with NESN and the Red Sox as air arrivals from the northeast fell," Mr. Dunkley said.

"There is still a lot of work to be done as, in spite of the Premier's comment that advance bookings for the next quarter are strong, the reality is many of our core markets are still experiencing very difficult economic conditions, and thus we need to do a better job of attracting people to our shores and raising Bermuda's brand awareness.

"Less emphasis on cruise ships, and more on heads in beds."

Despite his criticism, Mr. Dunkley said he was excited to hear about the partnership between Tucker's Point and Rosewood — a new branding announced by the Premier during Tuesday's media address.

"Rosewood will bring an experienced management structure, first class operating procedures in all areas of the business, as well as a strong marketing arm," said Mr. Dunkley. "This will complement the fabulous property that Tucker's Point has developed."

With Dr. Brown's replacement as Premier to be elected tonight, Mr. Dunkley said he hoped that whoever filled his shoes would be willing to listen and build partnerships with those in the tourism industry.

"We remain disappointed that there are so many issues that he has created within the Ministry which remain unresolved or explained," he said.

"Politicians need a higher level of accountability to the people who elect them and pay the taxes than the record of Dr. Brown shows."