Tourism will get an added boost from the international insurance industry in the year ahead, with increased interest from insurance and reinsurance groups in having conferences in Bermuda.

Led by the Reinsurance Association of America (RAA), at least three new insurance conferences are expected to be held here during the year.

And encouraged by its success in attracting first time insurance conferences to the Island this year, the Bermuda insurance industry's marketing team is to expand its target audiences to include major convention organisers as well as insurance buyers.

Chairman of the marketing committee of the Insurance Advisory Committee Roger Gillett believes 1998 could be a record year for Bermuda's international insurance conference calendar.

The Hartford Institute's 13th Offshore Insurance Operations Conference will be held here for the first time.

Another US group, the Barnett International Conference Group, is proposing a new captive conference in April, while the 2nd IBC Captive Conference is scheduled for May and the 2nd Health care Captives Conference is due here in July.

The regularly scheduled 12th Reinsurance Congress, sponsored by Coopers & Lybrand and presented by Hawksmere plc, takes place in October, as does the Bermuda Angle conference.

Mr. Gillett said, "We were particularly pleased to learn that the Reinsurance Association of America had decided to hold its annual conference here in April.'' He attributed the RAA's decision to its recognition of the professional capabilities and extensive capacity of the Bermuda reinsurance industry.

He added, "Recognising that the RAA's members comprise the biggest reinsurers in the US, we will be organising a welcoming reception for them with the aim of developing better relations with this very important group.'' The four-day conference of the RAA, a Washington DC-based non-profit trade association of US property and casualty reinsurers, opens on April 29 at Lantana Colony Club and is expected to attract about 100 delegates from the US.

The Hartford Institute's two-day meeting opening February 17 at the Southampton Princess is expected to be attended by 125 visiting delegates. The Institute, a respected educational division of the Connecticut-based non-profit Center for Tax Education and Research, has held its Offshore Insurance Operations Conference in the US for the past 12 years.

It is being staged in Bermuda for the first time since the early eighties, in recognition of Bermuda's position as a major international insurance centre.

Hartford Institute executive director professor Bernard Goodman said the 1998 conference, which is to be opened by Finance Minister Grant Gibbons and will feature a luncheon address by IAC chairman Brian Hall, will focus on offshore insurance company tax issues arising out of the use of derivatives and finite risk coverages. Rent-a-captives will also be discussed, as well as insurers and reinsurers formed to write life products.

Barnett International, which is still in the process of organising its captive insurance conference, is proposing a three-day event at the Hamilton Princess, starting April 6. It will be followed May 18-20 by IBC's 2nd Annual Captive Conference and, in July, by the 2nd Health care Captives Conference organised by Cambridge Health Resources.