Humorous radio and TV adverts, cheaper flights and and upping the number of hotel and guest house bed spaces to 10,000 are amongst the projected line up to boost Bermuda's tourism industry.

And televised sporting events are set to spread awareness of the Island with a PGA Pro-Am golf event, top triathlon and a world beach volleyball championships for under-19s amongst the attractions forecast to arrive soon.

The tourism intentions of the Government were revealed by Deputy Premier Dr. Ewart Brown as he gave his vision for the future during a presentation at the Fairmont Princess Hotel yesterday to an audience of tourism stakeholders from hoteliers to marketing executives.

In a bid to attract North American visitors, the American AAA hotel grading system is to be introduced for Bermuda's hotels in line with those in the US, making it easier for potential holidaymakers to judge what they'll be able get for their money.

Also in the mix was news of low-cost airline carriers JetBlue and Spirit Airways also starting regular flights later in the year, and increased scheduled flights from London and a new service from Germany, aimed at arresting the declining tourism fortunes of the Island.

"With new zeal and energy we are poised to build on the foundation of 2005 and successfully navigate the journey that is the revitalisation of Bermuda's tourism," said Tourism Minister Dr. Brown.

He ran through end of year visitor statistics that showed year-on-year growth from 2004's poor results, although they showed air arrivals were down slightly.

But it was the bigger picture for 2006 and beyond that proved the main focus of the Minister's speech as he said it was still the goal to increase the number of annual air arrivals to the Island to more than 400,000 within the next two years, that would entail a 130,000 jump from the current level of air passengers.

Getting the word out that Bermuda is a place to visit, be it for a holiday or to enjoy a sporting or cultural event, is something that will be shared between the Tourism Ministry and the newly appointed marketing agency GlobalHue, which has already prepared a number of humorous radio and TV adverts, containing a degree of mild sexual innuendo, aimed at luring visitors to the Island.

The audience was given a sneak preview of the adverts which had actors talking about memories of their visit to Bermuda only for their words to be drowned out by passing Police sirens, honking car horns or noisy Cappuccino machines as they alluded to a passionate encounter.

Other than the broadcast adverts there are a number of sporting events, with accompanying TV coverage, also in the pipeline.

Dr. Brown said: "A US PGA sectional Pro-Am event will be hosted in Bermuda later this year. Prior to this event, 12 PGA professionals from the Mid-West region will visit Bermuda this spring for a PGA Ambassadors trip.

"These professionals will travel to Bermuda to experience the Island and become familiar with the resorts, golf courses and other offerings.

"The sole purpose of this trip is to develop three Ambassadors from each state to help 'sell' the Bermuda PGA section's Pro-Am."

He added: "In addition we are actively pursuing three other options for Bermuda to host a major internationally televised professional golf event. From these, one will be selected and we expect to be in a position to announce the event in the next 90 days."

He mentioned the expected hosting of the under-19 World Beach Volleyball Championships in September and ongoing efforts to bring the "Escape to Alcatraz" triathlon series to the Island, which would give the opportunity to showcase Bermuda's natural surroundings.

Increasing Bermuda's guest bed count to 10,000 will entail development and redevelopment of land and properties.

"To accomplish this objective we will stimulate development and redevelopment by creating and marketing meaningful hotel investment incentives and streamlining cumbersome regulatory processes," said Dr. Brown.

Tax breaks and benefits will be amongst the initiatives to encourage hotel owners and developers to improve their facilities.

There will be more hotel inspections, including the aforementioned American Automobile Association (AAA) hotel rating programme.

The Minister also promoted Bermuda's latest tourism catchphrase "Feel The Love" and moves to explore the opportunity of attracting "faith tourism" and possibly bringing church conferences to the Island.

And on the subject of cruise ships, Dr. Brown said: "We cannot discount the economic value of the cruise segment to Bermuda. In 2006, we anticipate that we will host 333,000 cruise visitors, 116,000 of whom will be one-day callers."

He said the ideas, opportunities and plans would be disseminated to all tourism industry partners on the Island in the coming weeks by members of the Tourism Department team, adding: "Make no mistake ? we will work with all of our partners to ensure effective implementation and collective success."