The Society of American Travel Writers is holding its annual conference in Bermuda this year in what will be one of the Island's biggest showcases in decades, The Royal Gazette can reveal.

The Tourism Department is calling on all Bermudians to pull together to show the Island in its best light while the 400 influential journalists are here.

Bermuda has hosted conferences for travel agents from the key North American market before, but Tourism is hoping bringing writers directly to the Island will produce a spin-off in glowing print, television and radio reports.

The Department is expected to officially announce on Monday that it has landed the prestigious conference from 4-9 September at the Fairmont Southampton Princess.

The event is a coup for Tourism Minister David Allen who helped close the deal when he held a lunch for SATW delegates at their conference in Cardiff, Wales, last year.

Tourism public relations manager Charles Webbe and then-director of Tourism Gary Phillips lobbied SATW at its conference in Banff, Canada, in 1999.

Mr. Webbe told The Royal Gazette yesterday: "Because these people have such an audience this is an extremely important occasion to showcase the Island.

"When these people go away we hope they will write positive reports. I've been a member since 1976 and the way destinations pull out all the stops ensures people get a good impression.

"We hear so often that tourism is in the doldrums according to the sceptics and it will be interesting to have Bermudians join together with us to show we are not in the doldrums and that we have an island worth coming to visit.

"It is highly desirable that when they come, they will be able to see and enjoy the large number of things to do here and come away with a wholesome impression of Bermuda becuase there will be articles, TV and radio programmes all over Canada and the US.'' Tourism is hoping Bermudians will volunteer to hold cocktail parties in their homes for small parties of delegates in the few days before and after the conference.

Hotels are offering free trips on activities such as diving to ensure the delegates realise there is more to Bermuda than lying on beaches.

And the department is hoping the business community will chip in to ensure the event is a major success.

"It is a very expensive event so we are looking for assistance across the board to make this work.

"What the minister would like is for writers who think all kinds of things about Bermuda to have the chance to see and visit a number of things they can do in Bermuda.'' The Island hosted the SATW conference in 1963.

TRAVEL AGENTS TVL