Bermuda's eight major hotels, due to announce their combined financial results next week, are expected to report disappointing results following a lacklustre 1996 tourism season.

And the hoteliers could use the figures to lobby Finanace Minister Grant Gibbons for tax relief in the February budget.

Dr. Gibbons is likely to receive the report detailing the combined unaudited statements of eight major hotels. The report is usually compiled by chartered accountants Cooper & Lines.

And it is likelt that financial relief -- among other matters -- will be high on the agenda of hotel owners when they hold their annual meeting with Government early in the New Year.

The eight hotels are the Princess, Southampton Princess, Elbow Beach, Sonesta Beach, Marriott's Castle Harbour Resort, Grotto Bay, Belmont and Harmony Hall.

Bermuda Hotel Association (BHA) president, Stephen Barker, said yesterday: "The results this year will be disappointing.'' Last year participating hotels suffered $309,000 in combined losses, which was one of the better years in the last decade. Combined losses in seven of the previous eight years had totalled $41 million.

The hotels' only profitable year was 1994, when they record a combined profit of $5.8 million.

BHA executive vice president, John Harvey, said yesterday he was confident that Government was well aware of hotel industry woes.

"Even without seeing the upcoming financial report, I think they know some relief is needed,'' he said.

Mr. Barker said he agreed with concerns that the tax burden on the individual tourist may be a central problem for tourism.

One area where hotelirs may seek relief is on the duty paid on fuel used by the Bermuda Electric Light Company for fuel. Two years ago, Mr. Barker said the large hotels paid as much as $3 million for electricity a year. He said removal of duty could lower the hotels' power bills by 15 to 20 percent. "The Government was asked to consider removing the duty portion,'' he said this week. "The regular visitor has had to bear an unfair burden. We are asking the visitor to somehow pay too much. Things add up. "There is also duty on liquor which is also excessive. Then add payroll tax. The departure tax has gone up. The occupancy tax went from six to seven and a quarter percent, which is just another cost that the visitor finds excessive. It would all result in the cost of a vacation being less and hotels becoming more viable.'' Nothing has yet come out of the talks between the hotels and Government, but the association said that they will meet again.

"We will present our case once again and we hope that there is an Island-wide effort to improve the entire tourism picture.''