off-season by promoting the Island as a country club. The campaign, which is thought to cost more than $1 million, is designed to attract visitors to the winter activities of golf, tennis and Bermuda's heritage. The November to March programme does not dwell on visitors seeking sun, sea and sand, nor should it do so.

Tourism Minister David Dodwell has said: "The focus this year is a club where you can enjoy the benefits of being a member of that club. It's positioned with the total-island resort idea where the whole Island is available.'' We are naturally cautious about any programme devised for Bermuda after the travesty of "Let Yourself Go''. We advised strongly against that concept and we went unheeded.

A "whole island'' concept will, of course, take the cooperation of all of Bermuda. That can be a problem.

An official of Tourism's agent, DDB Needham, has said that people want to be part of a country club mentality, but a lot of people think that Bermuda is closed down. Of course they do because far too often that has been true.

Bermuda has a long tradition of closing many of its doors directly after New Year's Eve and waiting until early spring to wake up again. That is almost an insulting situation for visitors who are lured to Bermuda to enjoy the amenities.

There is nothing more disappointing for visitors than being promised a total resort and finding that you have arrived in the "closed season''. We do understand that the Ministry of Tourism has little control over private enterprise, but it seems that if we are to promote ourselves as a "total island resort'' them we have to mean that word, `total'.

The truth is that even winter air flights are not very convenient, never mind the price, and that when you do get to Bermuda you can find your favourite hotel, the bar or restaurant of your choice, and even some visitor attractions closed.

There are people who enjoy coming to Bermuda when it is quiet and who come here regularly in the winter months, ignore Bermuda's weather when it is bad and enjoy the winter sunshine, and get on with celebrating the fact that they are not in the snow. They tend to be older and more settled people who are not very interested in night life. Many of these people are excellent customers for smaller and less expensive visitor facilities and stay in Bermuda much longer than the usual five or six bed nights.

There has been criticism that the country club concept is too elitist and, as an idea, it certainly is elitist. The question is, is that wrong? Bermuda cannot deal in quantity. To maximise its dollars it has to use its facilities to the best advantage and there is a general agreement that Bermuda is a quality product. Therefore it must look for customers who fit that profile.

Monitor has been telling us to go for "niche tourism''. That means visitors who enjoy specific things Bermuda offers. It seems to us that a conveniently located winter country club out of the snows of the north may well fit that idea. Can it work? Yes, but Bermuda will have to decide to provide the facilities and the services.