new Tourism Authority.

And Tourism Minister David Dodwell accused his opposite number in the Progressive Labour Party of "ignorance'' and "talking nonsense'' over proposals for the new body, designed to boost tourism.

Mr. Allen claimed yesterday that Government would slash jobs in the current Department of Tourism from 55 to seven and that the ruling United Bermuda Authority had no mandate to set up the new public/private group.

And he said the Tourism Department staff had been made "the scapegoats for the serious decline in tourism'' rather than Government's "own misguided policies''.

But Mr. Dodwell hit back, saying: "This talk of job cuts is absolute total nonsense -- I couldn't believe it.

"All the staff have been guaranteed involvement in the new organisation and the staff have been involved in this since it was announced in the Throne Speech in 1997.

"They have given their views to all the people in the Management Services team and the union has been involved -- there has been no attempt to reduce staff and there will be no redundancies.'' He added: "With the restructuring there will probably be some retitling and responsibility changes and this has been explained to staff.'' Mr. Dodwell pointed out that the Tourism Authority had been announced in the Throne Speech in November, 1997, which was debated, and its funding formed part of the Budget debate earlier this year.

And he claimed the Monitor Group, brought in from overseas to kick-start tourism as part of the same plan which created the Tourism Authority idea, had been backed by the PLP.

Tourism morale low -- Allen Mr. Allen also claimed morale at the Tourism Department was "at an all-time low'' and that calling in a Canadian firm to oversee -- and perhaps manage -- the new Authority was part of a UBP "fixation with gutting Bermudian expertise''.

Mr. Dodwell admitted a Canadian team had been employed -- but only for the set-up stage.

He said: "The Management Services Department are overseeing this particular change -- in addition, they have employed a company which specialises in this sort of transition from a Government organisation to a public/private one.

"But we are setting up this new Authority -- they will not be administering it, absolutely not.'' When it announced the new Authority, Government said it would allow the Island's Tourism chiefs to build a more flexible approach and allow more financial control.

But Mr. Allen countered that a PLP Government would restructure the existing Tourism Board and allow it to retain "any necessary expertise from outside the Department''.

He added the existing Tourism Department structure would be used to "implement innovative new tourism policies...'' and that a National Tripartite Commission would be set up to help form economic policy.

But Mr. Dodwell said: "The contents of Mr. Allen's statement reveal both an ignorance of the tourism industry as a whole and specifically on the steps we are taking towards a Tourism Authority.