seeking to find a fifth cruise ship to run to Bermuda in two years time.

For some store owners, the decision offers a ray of hope as they struggle to keep their businesses viable against the onslaught of the recession.

Mr. Thomas Dickinson, whose firm, jeweller Astwood-Dickinson, is closing down its store at the Princess Hotel in Pembroke after a decade, greeted the decision with cautious enthusiasm.

He said: "I welcome Government taking up the option to seek a fifth cruise ship, although whether anything will eventually come of it, I'm not sure.

"Government cannot run a ship until May, 1994, and a lot can happen between now and then.

"You have to keep an open mind on whether we can find another ship of the quality we are seeking and one which could be successfully introduced without harming the current cruise ship operators which come to Bermuda.'' In a statement released on Friday, Government did not specify what type of ship it hoped to attract, where it will berth or when it will call.

But traders are in no doubt that a new ship must call in Bermuda towards the end of the week, including Saturday, when Hamilton's shopping areas are usually very quiet.

Mr. Eldon Trimingham, president of Trimingham Brothers department store, has been one of the biggest advocators of an easing of Government's policy of restricting cruise passengers to 120,000 a year -- a policy brought in largely to protect the hotel industry.

"There is strong evidence that hotel guests shop more in Hamilton when the streets are busy with cruise ship passengers,'' he said. "People love to go where its busy.

"Cruise passengers spend as much in stores and restaurants as anybody else and we should welcome more of them.

"The only thing they don't spend money on is the hotels but a survey showed that about 22 percent of them return to Bermuda by air at a later date so the hotel industry does ultimately benefit.'' Cruise ship traffic worldwide increased by 14 percent last year, at a time when air arrivals generally plummeted, he said.

He added: "Cruises are becoming a more popular way to vacation and it's up to us to take advantage of this.

"People talk about the tourism industry being all swings and roundabouts but we must ensure that we are on both the swing and the roundabout.'' Bermuda's four regular cruise ships currently operate from New York, but Mr.

Trimingham suggested that a fifth vessel could run from a port to the south, possibly Jacksonville, in Florida.

"I would like to see the cruise ship start arriving earlier in the season and continue running until later in the year when the other ships have stopped coming here,'' he said.

Mr. Henry Vesey, president of H.A. and E. Smith's department store, also stressed that cruises were becoming more popular with holidaymakers and Bermuda must adapt accordingly if it wanted to keep its share of the market.

"People like the idea of a worry-free vacation when their every needs are catered for,'' he said. "And if they like Bermuda during their stop off here then there's a good chance they will come back. Cruises are a great way of introducing people to Bermuda.''