Caribbean tourism officials said on Saturday they must pool resources to offset a drop in tourism to the region after the terror attacks on the United States, and some suggested forming a regional airline to guarantee flights.

"The need and importance of effective promotion of our region cannot be over-emphasised," Bahamas Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham told the Associated Press. He was chairing the two-day meeting at a resort on Paradise Island in the Bahamas.

The tourism summit was organised by the 14-member Caribbean Community trade bloc, which Premier Jennifer Smith has suggested Bermuda should join as an associate member.

Already, in an emergency October meeting, airlines, tourism associations and Caricom governments agreed to team up for a $16 million promotional campaign in the United States and Europe.

The Premier was joined at the Bahamas conference by Tourism Minister David Allen and her chief of staff, Senator Colonel David Burch. The Premier had also invited Shadow Tourism Minister David Dodwell to join the contingent, but he declined.

It is not clear how much, if anything, Bermuda would need to pay towards the promotional campaign if the Island joined Caricom.

The Government delegation was scheduled to return yesterday and could not be contacted for comment, said a Government Information Services spokeswoman.

Ralph Taylor, head of the Caribbean Hotel Association, said the $16 million promotional campaign was not enough and he called for a multi-country task force to oversee cooperation in boosting tourism.

Some at the conference asked that the tourism summit be an annual event.

Others called for a regional airline, funded by Caribbean governments, that could guarantee flights even in slow economic times. Tourism operators complain of recent cancellations of Caribbean routes by outside carriers.

"Airlift is critical," said Jean Holder, head of the Caribbean Tourism Organisation.

No world region is more dependent on tourism. Last year, tourism brought the Caribbean $20.2 billion. An estimated one in four people are employed in tourism.

Tourists cancelled vacations to the Caribbean and elsewhere since the hijack attacks in New York and Washington, citing security concerns and economic difficulties. Several large hotels in the Caribbean closed down.

Half of the estimated annual 20 million visitors to the region come from the United States. Even before the September 11 terrorist attacks, cheap competition from Mexico and well-funded promotions in Hawaii and Florida were drawing away visitors.