Bermuda’s credentials as a tourist destination are creating a buzz on social network sites, according to officials.A spokesman for the Ministry of Tourism said that more than 80,000 consumers are tweeting, liking, pinning and talking about the Island through Twitter chats, Facebook and blog posts — causing the destination to trend nationally in the United States.“We are extremely pleased with the social media response we have seen in the past year,” Tourism Director William Griffith said.“Social media has become one of the most influential platforms to reach consumers, and we are therefore placing a great deal of emphasis on tilling this fertile ground for prospective visitors.”The Ministry has hosted four Twitter chats since November 2012 with topics including golf, Bermuda dining/Restaurant Week, promotion of Delta’s new flight from LaGuardia to Bermuda, and Bermuda summer highlights. Two of these Twitter chats, including one held last week, trended nationally, meaning they were one of the ten most talked-about topic hashtags in real-time on Twitter. Guest hosts have included Island hotel partners, Bermuda restaurant representatives and travel bloggers.The spokesman added that, in addition to Twitter, Facebook has seen consistent growth on the Department of Tourism’s page, with an audience increase of 251 percent since July, 2012. The Department of Tourism has also partnered with media outlets such as Afar Magazine for Facebook chats in an effort to increase engagement and outreach to more Facebook users.And since October 2012, the Ministry has utilised a blog to showcase Bermuda’s hotels and resorts. Eight hotels have been covered, including interviews from hotel representatives, creative imagery and posts in social media. As a result, the series has reached 244,207 people across the Ministry’s social media platforms, with more than 26,376 social media users who have directly interacted with the blog content by viewing, clicking, liking and commenting.The Ministry has also increasingly played host to visiting bloggers, including a recent group familiarisation trip that brought 18 North American blog writers to the Island.“There is no doubt that more and more of today’s travellers base their vacation decisions on the information they see on the internet,” Mr Griffith said.“The more we can engage them in a conversation about the destination and help them learn why we offer so much more, the better chance we have of converting them into visitors.”