tabs on people coming to the Island -- and boost tourism.

The partnership with Advanced Solutions Group of Toronto was hailed yesterday as a key step by Bermuda's tourism chiefs.

They said it would shore up Government's Passenger Information System by using computer technology.

And they predicted the move would be a money-saver, cut airport queues and improve efforts to sell Bermuda.

"We are very pleased with this development. We believe it will result in a significant enhancement of our efficiency,'' said Director of Tourism Gary Phillips.

Under the system -- scheduled to start on January 1, 1998 -- Immigration cards will have a slightly different format. But they will ask for virtually the same information as is collected now.

At present, information from passengers is keypunched into a system and used to keep statistical track of arrivals and Bermudians going abroad.

The changes, however, will allow information to be scanned into computers rather than keypunched.

In addition, details about visitors will be expanded to help Tourism's marketing staff promote Bermuda.

"This is a case of our upgrading our use of modern technology in order to accomplish four goals,'' said Mr. Phillips.

"First, the use of this advanced technology will save money in the long run.

"Second, we want to make the clearance process as smooth as possible, both at the airport and at the seaports. Third, we want to be able to capture more information on visitors to help with our marketing efforts.

"And fourth, we want to make sure that Bermuda's Immigration and Customs security standards are as high as we can get them.'' Under the system, Government departments -- such as Education, Immigration, Tourism and Statistics -- would have access to a central database for information on people, he explained.

Mr. Phillips said the so-called FastGate smart card, expected to be up and running this spring, also came under the umbrella of the new passenger information system.

The smart card -- encoded with personal details -- will be swiped through a machine to identify arriving passengers. And if the information matches records on a central computer the person is allowed through Immigration.

Computer giant IBM's system -- which also electronically reads a person's palm print -- will ask the person whether they have anything to declare.

TOURISM TOU