After successful appearances by five Bermudians this year at Jamaica's Reggae Sunfest, organiser Robert Russell said it is clear that local musicians have what it takes to make it internationally.

Mr. Russell spoke to The Royal Gazette while on the Island working with Dred and Baha to put together this weekend's Bunny Wailer concert.

On his first trip to Bermuda, Mr. Russell said he had been highly impressed with both the beauty of the Island and the competency of local concert promoters.

Mr. Russell said he was surprised to learn of the battles between New York based promoter Track Entertainment in the fallout to the cancellation of Bermuda Jazz Festival.

He said, based in his experience as an organiser of possibly the world's biggest Reggae festival, local organisers could easily handle concerts of that scale - especially with a little assistance from Jamaica.

And the connections between Bermuda and Jamaica's entertainment scenes are growing, he added.

Next year, Reggae Sunfest organisers will again work with Dred and Baha to offer Sunfest fans who can't make the trip to Jamaica, the opportunity to enjoy the fun over the Internet, he said.

The local promoters met with Mr. Russell to discuss the idea of offering live webcasting of the festival prior to last month's event but had insufficient time to put everything together for 2001.

But Dred and Baha paved the way for local artists Ras Giorgis, Ras Mykkal, Ninja Outty, Ali Smith and Truneh Flood to be included in the line-up of some 60 acts which took the stages of Montego Bay.

"They were excellent," said Mr. Russell. And he expects the popularity of the Bermudians acts in Jamaica will grow even further after their recent exposure there.

"A lot of people will make it a point of duty to see them next year," he said.

Bermudians will be able to see the local acts at work in front of Jamaican - and international - audiences when footage from Reggae Sunfest is broadcast on ZBM this week to promote the Bunny Wailer event.

The Wailer concert was pushed back two weeks due to the tragedies in the United States.

The artist was to fly to the Island immediately after the hijackings and perform on Saturday, September 15th. The performance will now take place on Saturday (September 29) at Clearwater Beach.

And local artists may get even greater international exposure should Sunfest organisers succeed in their negotiations with Britain's Channel 4 to broadcast segments of the festival this fall.

Mr. Russell also hopes that Bermuda's tightening of ties with CARICOM will provide opportunities for exchange with Jamaica.

While both countries face tremendous tourism challenges in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks in the US, Mr. Russell said that encouraging entertainment exchanges could boost tourism.

He said many hotels in Jamaica which normally experience occupancy rates of 90 to 95 percent have seen those numbers plummet to just 20 percent.

But he suggested that promoting entertainment through concerts and festivals may be an effective way to motivate reluctant travellers back onto air planes.

"We see music as a unifying force," he said. "It's in our mutual interest to promote entertainment. It's more important than ever now because people are afraid to travel. We can use entertainment as a vehicle to encourage people to get out there and travel again."