which could amount to $1.8 million.

And there is no space for an additional cruise ship unless it meets conditions set by the Tourism Ministry.

These were two of a series of recommendations in Bermuda's long-awaited new cruise ship policy which was unveiled yesterday by Tourism Minister David Dodwell.

He said: "This policy is not going to make everyone 100 percent happy, but it will serve Bermuda in the future. Nothing within this policy is sacrosanct from the standpoint of doing what is right for Bermuda.'' The Cruise Industry Policy Review Committee was established in October, 1995, to review and recommend changes to the ten-year-old policy.

After review, the finished report was taken by Mr. Dodwell to Cabinet and will be debated in Parliament.

It will be reviewed, at a minimum, every three years and introduces an annual permit fee aimed at cruise lines contracted for the Bermuda run at the start of the 1998 season.

This is allowed for in the Passenger Ships Act of 1972 but has never been enacted.

From May to August, cruise lines will pay $4 per berth, per night in port. In September and October the rate will drop to $2. The fee will rise by $1 per berth per year thereafter and will be collected even when berths are unoccupied.

"It's going to work out for the regular callers to be about an average of $300,000 per ship depending on the number of calls and that sort of thing,'' Mr. Dodwell said. "The potential revenue from this in the first year we view as between $1.5 million and, at the outside, $1.8 million.'' He admitted that the cruise lines "will presumably pass the cost of this onto their passengers'', but the committee felt this was not exorbitant and made the cruise ships more meaningful contributors to the Island's economy.

Unlike the hotel industry and their guests, he continued, cruise lines paid no payroll tax, no duty on supplies, no occupancy tax, no company fees or social insurance he said., Money raised by the fees would be used to improve the Island's transportation services to help make it "customer friendly''.

"One of the significant specific requests that we hear from our visitors...is the lack of flexibility in our transportation system. They are not happy with the way we move our visitors around.'' Government has already launched a study of these services with a view to establishing a Transportation Authority which would oversee all aspects of the Island's transportation system.

Mr. Dodwell said facilities would also be upgraded to accommodate the larger ships now being used by the cruise industry.

Mr. Dodwell said the policy will also restrict the total passenger capacity of ships in port to 6,000 per day between May and October, the maximum number possible without straining transport, sightseeing and hospitality resources.

He added: "The only condition under which Bermuda would consider an additional cruise ship would be a weekend `cruise and stay' where passengers stay at local hotels and guest houses.

"The hotel industry, or the air arrivals, has become a weekend business. The last couple of years have seen weekend stays of three or four days that might find it extremely difficult to compete with a weekend cruise ship.'' If the balance between cruise and air arrivals was skewed, said Mr. Dodwell, then Bermuda ran the risk of becoming more of a cruise destination than a resort destination.

Other recommendations contained in the policy include providing more value for shore excursions and establishing a commission to look at Island entertainment.

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