House of Assembly during the new session.

Tourism Minister David Dodwell said the report was not yet finished but he hoped that it would appear in the House during this session.

He announced the review of the Island's ten-year-old policy in March after the number of cruise ship visitors to the Island fell in 1995 by 2.2 percent from 1994 levels -- from 172,865 to 169,037.

Mr. Dodwell said a committee comprising of a technical person from the department, a member of the Tourism Board and two people from outside the department had produced the initial report.

This had been put before a product committee of the Tourism Board which was reviewing it.

Mr. Dodwell added: "We have been using the Tourism Board on a regular basis to get feedback prior to making decisions.'' This committee were also interviewing people "who have a closer relationship with the results or play a role in them'', including the Chamber of Commerce and the Corporation of Hamilton.

After listening to their concerns, he said, a final document will be put before him for assessment and he would then pass it on to Cabinet with his recommendations.

If it was accepted there, he continued, it would be tabled in the House of Assembly.

Complaints about the old policy have come from different corners of the community.

In October, the Coalition for Change called for a change in the policy to allow weekend visits -- an idea the Progressive Labour Party has been behind for years, Shadow Tourism Minister David Allen said yesterday.

He added: "There has not been any indication of the results of the study.

"We look forward to the results of the study to see whether or not Government has woken up and smelt the coffee and will allow a weekend cruise ship.

"We are not for opening the floodgates,'' continued Mr. Allen, "but to have money sunk into facilities that are underutilised on the weekends is nonsense.'' The benefits of having a weekend cruise ship would extend to other facilities, such as retail shops and taxis, said Mr. Allen.

However, Mr. Dodwell has said before that a sixth regular visitor was not the answer to the decline in tourism business as it was not the number of ships but the number of passengers which was important.

Governor Lord Waddington said in his Throne Speech Friday: "Government has undertaken an extensive review of its cruise ship policy, the results of which will be laid before Parliament.'' TOURISM TOU CRUISE SHI