A group of around 400 travel agents are expected to arrive on the Island this week as part of the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) convention.

Bermuda Tourism Authority CEO Bill Hanbury said the group, along with their guests, are on board the Norwegian Dawn, along with representatives from the BTA who are helping to promote the Island in advance of their arrival.

“It’s a terrific opportunity for us,” Mr Hanbury said. “We have members of our Tourism Authority team on board the vessel right now with our future visitors and they are wining and dining them as they make their way down to Bermuda.

“There are more than 400 travel agents, industry leaders and media who will be visiting us over the next several days, and it is a terrific opportunity for us. This is the world’s largest travel agency association with membership from 140 countries and it literally reaches millions of travellers every year. We couldn’t be in a better spot.”

During their time on the Island, the agents will be touring several of the Island’s hotels, visiting attractions and taking part in Taste of Bermuda — an open-air trade show organised specifically for the agents involving around 40 tourism industry stakeholders.

And numerous tourism-related businesses and attractions, such as the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute and the Crystal Caves, will be offering incentives and discounts to the agents.

BTA Hotel Liaison Alastair Jack said the authority was working to make sure the agents are able to experience as much of the Island as possible in three days, while still giving them time to explore.

He said that while ASTA were particularly interested in visiting the Island’s largest hotels, the BTA worked to ensure the visitors will also get a chance to look at the smaller hotel properties.

“We understand that there are smaller properties as well with a unique charm and we worked for them to make sure [the agents] are going to see them too,” he said. “Going forward with all new initiatives we are going to be encompassing a lot of the smaller, uniquely Bermudian hotels.”