More seasonal events such as the Bermuda Festival for the Performing Arts could be major tourist attractions according to a leading hotelier.

The government has highlighted the potential of large scale events and allocated funds in the tourism budget for so-called "event driven tourism."

This can mean sports events such as the Gold Cup sailing, the Rugby Classic and the XL Tennis Tournament as well as the Jazz Festival, the Culinary Arts Festival and the Bermuda Arts Festival.

Because of its proximity to major cities in the US, Bermuda is an easy destination for these sort of events, says Paul Tormey, chairman of the marketing committee of the Bermuda Hotel Association and general manager of the Fairmont Hamilton Princess.

Mr. Tormey says that hoteliers agree that this is a growth area with a lot of promise, but warns that events should not be expected to attract high levels of tourists over night. "These are long term projects." he says.

Given the right support and planning, however, an event such as an arts festival is capable of becoming a major tourist attraction.

Take the Spoleto Festival in Charleston South Carolina for example, says Mr. Tormey : "You can't get near Spoleto during the festival."

He adds that some events in Bermuda are already achieving great things: "Look at the World Rugby Classic, it's a wonderful event. It's become so popular that a lot of international businesses are choosing to entertain during that week."

Mr. Tormey believes that there are three crucial components to event driven tourism:

1. you have to pick the right dates;

2. the sponsorship requirements; and

3. you have to pick the right events.

According to Mr. Tormey, an example of a different type of successful event driven tourism is the International Race Week. Every year a large group from the American Society for Leukaemia and Lymphoma comes to participate in a fundraising run during that week.

It takes place in January during the Martin Luther King holiday, a time of year when it is a bit cheaper to come to Bermuda.

Over the past five years, the event has attracted large numbers of visitors who support both the cause of leukaemia and local hotels.

An example of an event going wrong, however is the E-commerce conference, eCC Bermuda, which had been scheduled to take place in October 2001.

Initially delayed due to September 11, the event's postponement until March 2002 led to it coinciding with a downturn in the e-commerce industry and eventually being cancelled.

"Very disappointing, a case of bad timing." says Nancy Volesky of AAC Saatchi & Saatchi who volunteered her time to help promote the event.

When these events fall through it is a very costly affair for the organisers and volunteers - a major conference can require up to 1500 hours, according to Graham Redford of Total Marketing and Communications Group (TMCG).

TMCG were the organisers of the Bermuda Culinary Arts Festival. This event was originally planned to take place in November 2001, but had to be cancelled due to the World Trade Center disaster. Several of the celebrity chefs who had been due to participate lost many friends and colleagues in the tragedy.

The Culinary Arts Festival eventually took place with great success in 2002.

Mr. Tormey predicts that this event will really take off. He says: "We were pleasantly surprised with the number of people who came. There was great advertising in quality magazines like Conde Nast... All of the chefs that were here went back home very impressed. We think that they will talk to colleagues and say you've got to be there next year."

Mr. Redford confirms that it was not possible to finance the first Bermuda Culinary Arts Festival on ticket sales alone. He says that hopefully once it is established, the BCAF will become self-funding, but for the first few years, they will rely heavily on both government and corporate sector funding.

Mr. Redford adds that the Bermuda Department of Tourism also helped by providing administrative support, PR support, promoting the event on their web site and helping with web expertise and advertising.

Another event supported by the government which sees a good level of overseas visitors is the currently running Bermuda Festival of the Performing Arts. Liz Campbell, general manager of the festival says that some groups in particular seem to have an overseas following who will travel in order to see them. One example is Sweet Honey in the Rock a ladies a capella group, and the English Chamber Orchestra will also have fans who follow them to Bermuda.

It's a great example of how event driven tourism can have a multitude of benefits for the Island. Originally conceived to bring entertainment for locals during the winter months, it now produces tourist revenue as well.

In an article about the Fairmont Hamilton Princess published in the business section on January 24 2002, the general manager, Mr. Paul Tormey's name was spelt incorrectly.