The Shadow Minister of Tourism last week said the 76 percent hotel occupancy rate during the height of the season was "nothing to jump and down about".

Senator Kim Swan said it meant that hotels still had a 24 percent volume to fill and that's the challenge.

"But, kudos to Tourism Minister Dr. Ewart Brown for the increase in air arrivals by 5.5 percent," he said.

Senator Swan said the positive increase in second quarter figures could be attributed to two factors ? the convention business enjoyed by one of the major hotels on the Island and the increase following uncertainty early in 2004 when hotels were recovering from Hurricane Fabian.

He said the one thing that caught his eye in the statistics were the unprecedented levels in cruise ship passenger numbers.

"It's the highest level ever, but it was my understanding that there was always meant to be a balance between cruise ship and air arrivals. I think that we need to tread very carefully when considering larger cruise ships. If we are hitting unprecedented levels now, I don't think our infrastructure could handle any more proliferation of that," he said.

Sen. Swan said in stark contrast to this was the projection for the third quarter, described by Dr. Brown as "soft".

"Anyone who has been involved in marketing knows that you need to be out there marketing for January and February 2006, not the third quarter," he said.

He said Dr. Brown was in "ad hoc mode" using cruise ship passenger numbers to play the "political public perception game".

"We were given the opinion that there would be a balance between cruise ships and a stride towards higher air arrivals. Since then we've had a deviation from that type of commitment and I'm not sure that has been done in a real collective way. I get the impression from Government feels it needs to get the numbers at all costs," he said.

Sen. Swan said it was important how the Government deals with more cruise ship loads, wider cruise ships and possibly dredging the channels.

He said that not only did Government need to look at the impact on the environment and infrastructure, but also sustainable development.

"I've always likened tourism to international business. But unlike international business, there is no balance. We've become tourism top heavy. Decisions are made for political public perception and not because it's the right thing to do for the industry," he said.

He said the 76 percent hotel occupancy rate during this peak period, and the "softer" period projected for the third quarter, was an indication of the type of marketing that took place months ago.

Sen. Swan said the Tourism Department has $35 million in its budget ? five times more than its competitors ? and that, according to him, is where the problem lies.

"We are fortifying a bureaucracy at the expense of spending against tourists," he said, adding that a tourism authority was needed.

Referring to the Ettenburg Report commissioned by the Government in 2003, Sen. Swan said compared to other Island destinations, Bermuda has only four percent of the total island rooms, or 35,000 rooms when the report was done.

"Barbados has 67,000 hotel rooms and Jamaica has 24,000, but we are spending three times the cost per room than our major Caribbean counterparts," he said.

He said according to the Ettenburg Report, Bermuda's Department of Tourism spent $36.8 million for 35,000, which translated to $10,514 per room.

Jamaica spent $1,200 per room and Bahamas spent on average $3,547 per room.

"We are three times as high as Bahamas and even though Aruba has twice as many rooms as Bermuda, ten percent of the market, they spent only $2,373 per room," he said.

"Bermuda is by far the least effective in the use of marketing dollars to effect conversion. It costs us more than $70 per visitor versus other destinations."

He said the Bahamas attracted four million visitors each year who spent $53.9 million, or $13.17 per person and Barbados attracted 925,000 visitors who spent $22.1 million, or $22.67 per person.

He said the report concluded that Bermuda needed a more effective spending strategy.

"The comprehensive way we need to deal with this monster of money we're spending is to take this opportunity right now to make the transition necessary for Government to recognise that we need to help them get out of their own way," he said.