A tourism summit will be hosted by Premier Ewart Brown on August 15, amid plummeting numbers of visitors to Bermuda.

According to his press secretary Glenn Jones the aim is "to foster in-depth talks about strengthening the performance of the Bermuda tourism industry versus a US economy in decline."

Mr. Jones said the summit was conceptualised earlier this month and invitations began going out to industry partners on Monday.

Figures revealed earlier this week showed that tourism arrivals suffered a 22.9 percent drop in May. The news followed disappointing first quarter figures with a 2.3 percent rise in February but year-on-year declines of 13.2 percent in January and 11.4 percent in March.

The breakdown shows 68,048 visitors came in May compared to 88,327 in the same month in 2007. However, the April figure showed a rise of 26.7 percent in overall arrivals which went from 47,509 last year to 60,225 this year.

The latest figures also show a ten percent fall in hotel occupancy in May and a four percent drop in April, compared to the same months last year.

Last week, Department of Tourism officials blamed falling numbers on the harsher international economic climate. The Department has previously attributed the US credit crunch and soaring oil prices as reasons for the decline in people flying in for vacation.

Greeting news of the planned summit yesterday, Junior Minister of Tourism and Transport Sen. Marc Bean said: "The tourism research tells us that the people in our target audience still intend to travel despite the weak US economy so we need to redouble our efforts to make sure an increasing number of those people choose Bermuda.

"We're going to get the best brains around the table and see what we can come up with. Tourism is too important to our economy to not make every effort necessary on behalf of the hard-working people in the hospitality industry."

The planned summit already includes members of the Bermuda Hotel Association, the Chamber of Commerce and the Department of Airport Operations.

Sen. Bean said: "When we meet for the summit our short term focus will be the '08/'09 golf and spa season. We'll also discuss if there is a need to further intensify our effort in the UK and Europe — places less susceptible to the downturn being experienced in the United States."

Last night, UBP leader and Shadow Tourism Minister, Kim Swan said he was pleased "Government has taken aboard our recommendations from earlier this week (See "Save the Tourism Season Now!" at ubp.bm) and use this opportunity to say that we would be pleased to participate in the summit".

He added: "We would caution that the summit should not distract from the need for an immediate 'full-court press' to save the fast-disappearing four-month peak season, from May through August.

"We also question the thinking behind the Junior Tourism Minister's statement that the summit's short-term focus would be on the 08/09 golf and spa season, given the fact that the only public golf courses left in circulation is the nine-hole Ocean View Golf Course."