Bermuda could soon have direct flights to the Island from US Midwest and continental Europe, Tourism Minister David Allen told the House of Assembly yesterday.

The new Minister also said he wanted to encourage the kind of competition that once existed between Kiwi and Delta Airlines because fares lowered dramatically.

And he said he was in the "fairly advanced stages'' of negotiations with two airlines.

One airline would provide direct, non-stop service to the Midwest and the other would provide direct service for the continent of Europe -- possibly continuing to another gateway.

Mr. Allen said he was also following up on plans, started by the previous Government, for providing direct American Airlines service to Miami.

He expected plans for the Miami flight to pan out early in the year 2000.

Mr. Allen said the Miami route would help Bermudians interested in connecting with the Caribbean.

And he said the Ministry would be looking at tapping into business from Latin America including Brazil and Venezuela.

The Minister criticised the current state of "malaise'' in the local tourism industry, but added: "A new day has dawned and there is a breath of fresh air''.

He praised the new Board and the National Tourism Action Group, stating that "for the first time we have people there who represent labour'' such as a taxi driver, union shop steward and a representative from the Monitor group as well as representatives from large and small hotels.

Mr. Allen mentioned cultural/heritage tourism, ecological tourism and educational tourism as three major new focuses.

In terms of educational tourism, Mr. Allen said "baby boomers want to advance themselves''.

To address this need, he said the Island needed to provide "intellectual outreach'' instead of just sand and sun by creating opportunities such as study tours, preliminary courses in marine archaeology, Island cuisine, botany, and crafts which would help boost tourism during the off-season.

"We are a unique country with a unique culture, and we want to emphasise that to the world,'' he said. "We're all on a Bermuda high, and nowhere more than in the area of tourism.'' Mr. Allen noted that he was "not happy'' with the way Bermuda had been marketed overseas for the past two years, and he suggested the advertising budget needed to be used more wisely to get "more bang for the buck''.

He said the Ministry was on a "very intimidating time line'' for getting new initiatives started -- including a new advertising scheme scheduled for early spring of next year.

New ad campaign for spring Mr. Allen said a better partnership between hotels and local entertainment needed to be established, stating: "No more Follies from Las Vegas.'' And he mentioned establishing creative incentives for hotels such as tax credits on duty for liquor, noting that the entire product -- including local entertainment -- would need to upgrade.

He said such a plan would generate more entertainment, more jobs for bartenders, less expensive drinks and benefit the whole economy overall.

Mr. Allen reiterated plans to establish a weekend cruise ship, but said he was committed to making sure the local hotel industry would flourish.

"No longer will tourism be considered the stepchild of Government...we will not be playing second fiddle,'' he said.

"There are a lot of irons in the fire, and a lot of them are heating up.'' Allen's plans News advertising campaign in the spring Direct flights to the US Midwest and Europe Tax credits for hotel alcohol sales Weekend cruise ship Promote educational, ecological and cultural tourism