Dolphin Quest is hoping to attract companies and organisations to Bermuda for innovative team-building holidays centred on dolphins.

The company believes exercises involving the highly-intelligent mammals will be the ideal way for employees to develop team skills.

Dolphin Quest teamed up last week with two executive holiday companies from the United States as well as local businesses to come up with ideas for group vacations during the quiet shoulder season.

Dolphin Quest general manager Christine Mihelcic is convinced there is a big market for these types of vacations.

"We came up with tons of ideas and it's about getting something concrete to sell,'' she told The Royal Gazette .

"What we're trying to do is provide an experience for an organisation to interact with the dolphins for a purpose.

"Let's say they are working on sales skills or negotiations. We might provide them with a theory such as conservation, then how we bring the dolphins in to explain that.

"We have great beaches and golf courses, and if you are an organisation trying to develop team-building, and we have programmes like this, then you must come to Bermuda.

"There is a market for this and that's the direction a lot of these companies are taking right now.

"Team-building was big a few years ago, but it's turning around again.

Companies are interested in having `sticky staff' - employees who stay with the company.'' Representatives from executive holiday companies Adventure Links in Virginia and Executive Edge in Ohio spent a week in the Island last week looking at possible packages.

Dolphin Quest also included local organisations the Fairmont Southampton Princess - where the dolphins will return this summer from their temporary home in Dockyard -- the Axiom on-line tourism service, destination management company Select Sites, Bermuda Incentives and Conventions, and Aboutbermuda.com.

Ms Mihelcic said it was vital local companies had information on this so they can sell packages to overseas groups.

She said Dolphin Quest is also interested in selling team-building sessions with dolphins to local organisations.

Dolphin Quest is hoping to move back from Dockyard to its site at the Fairmont Southampton Princess, which was wrecked during a hurricane in 1999, by August.

Ms Mihelcic said she would like to have the team-building holidays begin by the end of this year, but she could not put a deadline on it.