Government is to establish a "mega-fund" with hoteliers in a marketing offensive which could include individual tailored television adverts. Premier and Tourism and Transport Minister Dr. Ewart Brown hinted at the new strategy at a press conference yesterday.

Dr. Brown said: "If you've watched television outside of Bermuda or even in Bermuda on the cable networks you will have seen hotels in other destinations being advertised, such as Atlantis in the Bahamas or Sandals in the Caribbean. I challenge you to say if you've seen a Bermuda hotel in a commercial outside of Bermuda. It hasn't happened, it hasn't been the norm. But we are working with hoteliers."

The Throne Speech stated Government would "intensify its efforts to increase joint marketing by the Bermuda Department of Tourism and individual hotel properties."

The Premier said yesterday: "Key to the success of tourism is that we attract more air visitors for Bermuda. We must increase our exposure in our key gateways through increased marketing.

"Therefore, hotels will be invited to partner with Government to create a mega-fund that will be used for joint marketing efforts."

The Premier also clarified the visitor arrival numbers given by Department of Tourism director William Griffith to UK travel website TTG Live. The website said: "He said visitor numbers in the third quarter of 2009 were only five percent lower than the same quarter last year."

Dr. Brown said the five percent referred to visitors from the UK rather than overall air arrivals for the third quarter. He added the third quarter tourism figures would be released shortly, but that arrivals for September were "one percent above".

Government is currently in talks with British Airways in a bid to attract more UK visitors through lower fares.

Dr. Brown said: "If there was one thing I could do today it would be to get a low cost carrier."

He said that the arrival of budget airline Zoom on the Island had created "an upswing of 22 percent" in terms of visitor numbers from the UK. However, when Zoom went bust last year, "that 22 percent went away".

"It's very expensive to fly from London to Bermuda but British Airways has promised they are going to make some adjustments, including reductions in fares. And in return we would do some nice things for them," said Dr. Brown.

He added he was "committed" to finding a low cost carrier to boost UK visitor numbers.

"We met one carrier recently who is willing but may not have the aircraft capacity," said the Premier. He declined to name who the company was.

During yesterday's press conference the Premier also announced tax cuts to attract more cruise ships. "Cruise lines get higher revenues at competing destinations," he said.

"Their operating costs in Bermuda are higher than at competing destinations. These realities make it more difficult to attract cruise ships to Bermuda."

For example, he said, the Bermuda Government charges a $20 Passenger Tax and a $14 Cabin Tax each day, per cabin.

"These fees make Bermuda one of the most costly cruise destinations in the world. Other destinations to the south are in single digits. The Mediterranean is less expensive than Bermuda.

"To become more competitive, the Government will propose amendments to the Miscellaneous Taxes Act during this legislative session.

"Additionally, to add value to the cruise ship visitor's stay, the Government will implement a programme that will allow retailers to open within the cruise terminal selling duty free and duty-paid goods. Heritage Wharf at Dockyard will house the first of these establishments. We will introduce legislation to amend the Public Holidays Act to allow those retailers to remain open during holidays when cruise ships are in port."

The Throne Speech initiatives will be rolled out during the current legislative session in a bid to boost tourism numbers in the tough economic climate.