Angered by yet another visiting couple's holiday being ruined by thieves, a hotelier has called on the Premier to take action before it is too late.

The Hon. Mike Winfield, managing director of Cambridge Beaches and a former Government senator, said at the weekend he had written to the Premier asking him to appoint a special Cabinet committee to examine the impact of crime on tourism.

"I think this is maybe one of the most serious situations facing Bermuda today and we have got to stamp it out fast,'' Mr. Winfield said. All of Government should be involved, he said, not just the Tourism Ministry.

Mr. Winfield is the second hotel boss this month to express his concern over the spiralling crime against visitors.

Hotelier Mr. C.W. (Toppy) Cowen had asked to speak to Governor Lord Waddington but settled for a meeting with Labour Minister the Hon. J. Irving Pearman.

At the meeting, Mr. Pearman blamed the axing of Bermuda College apprenticeship schemes for creating a generation of "disillusioned'' young people who were turning to crime to make a living.

And he called on businesses to play their part in fighting crime by encouraging training and offering jobs to ex-inmates.

Hotels could help by involving staff in anti-crime measures, Mr. Pearman said yesterday.

"They can embody staff to respond to the problem positively,'' he said. Hotel workers such as maids, doormen and front desk staff could give guests gentle reminders to secure their belongings when riding their mopeds and to tuck away their purses.

In the face of a break-in at one of his cottages plus two reports of suspicious persons casing the grounds last week, Mr. Winfield bolstered security at his property.

He also sent out a local crime advisory to all guests.

"We've done a quite a lot,'' he said, unwilling to disclose details for fear he would be helping criminals plan their burglaries.

The couple targeted were sleeping with their sliding glass door open as many guests did given Bermuda's reputation as being a safe place, he noted. "If there are reports that crime is impacting on tourism it could seriously affect us,'' Mr. Winfield said. "At the moment we are comparatively fortunate but we must remember the safe and secure reputation we are famous for.'' Mr. Cowen said he was pleased with his talks with Mr. Pearman.

He said Mr. Pearman had agreed with him that more Police on the beat would deter would-be thieves and dangerous drivers.

"We then discussed the social ills the Island is going through and the Minister felt we are now feeling the backlash for dropping some of the apprenticeship schemes that used to be held at the Bermuda College,'' Mr.

Cowen said.

"He was concerned that many employers did not want unskilled employees or those with a Police record in their work-place.

"The drug problem was highlighted and his department is doing everything possible to rid the Island of this destructive substance. Since practically anyone can receive social assistance we can assume the only reason for stealing is to pay for their drug habit.'' Mr. Pearman said: "We need the business community's support if we are going to stop a bad situation from deteriorating any further.'' "If they don't employ those who have been incarcerated what are they going to do? They will prey on not only our visitors but Bermudians themselves.'' Job skills were a reality of Bermuda in 1994, Mr. Pearman said.

"What we are finding is that a lot of young people haven't developed job skills over a period of time because in the 1970s and 1980s it was easy to get a non-skilled job and earn handsomely,'' he said. As a result of a lack of demand, local technical programmes were dropped.

But his Ministry was now trying to come to grips with the problem.

An affiliation between Bermuda College and a technical school abroad was possible, he said.