Awareness Week public forum on Tuesday evening at the Hamilton Princess Hotel.

The topic, "Is our beauty only skin deep?: Does Bermuda live up to its image?'' brought candid and sometimes blunt responses from the forum's five panelists, Mr. Peter Smith, Mr. Dennis Tucker, Dr. Grant Gibbons, Mr. David Allen and Mr. Horst Finkbeiner.

Freelance journalist Mr. George Rushe moderated the two-hour discussion, which was organised by the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association.

In opening statements, Mr. Smith, the assistant director of marketing for the Department of Tourism, said airport exit surveys of visitors showed that 65 percent of the respondents found the Island over-priced.

Calling the figure a "very telling statistic'', Mr. Smith said travel agents had reported that cost was the main reason why people were not choosing Bermuda for their vacation.

But Mr. Smith emphasised that the core elements which make Bermuda what it is -- the friendliness of the people, the beauty of the landscape and the charm of the Island's culture -- are very sound.

Vice-president and manager of Sonesta Beach Hotel, Mr. Tucker, echoed Mr.

Smith's assessment of Bermudians, calling them the Island's "most important commodity''.

One of Mr. Tucker's biggest concerns was the quality of service in relation to price. He said some employees were "failing to go that extra mile'' for visitors, and that this situation was one which had to be overcome if the Island was to reclaim its share of the global tourism market.

Mr. Tucker said ongoing staff training -- for all employees, not just supervisors -- was vital if service was to improve.

In order for the Bermuda tourism industry to recover, he said, there would have to be less "political in-fighting'', more teamwork and a willingness to consider new ideas.

He later expressed surprise at the "defensive'' criticism of recommendations put forward by May's international tourism forum, primarily by Tourism Minister the Hon C.V. (Jim) Woolridge.

"There is no reason why (the suggestions) couldn't be discussed,'' said Mr.

Tucker. "We have got to be prepared to try new things.'' Dr. Gibbons, managing director of Gibbons Company and a member of the Chamber of Commerce executive board, concentrated on the retail aspect of tourism.

In this field, Dr. Gibbons said three strategies that worked for the Island in the past needed to be re-evaluated: value for money, unique products and customer service.

He said it had become difficult for Bermuda retailers to compete with "deep discounters'' in the United States, and that much of the merchandise available locally was "not unique anymore''.

"There is very little in Bermuda that you cannot get in the United States.'' Dr. Gibbons said Bermuda must either get back to its traditional image, or actively change it "to something closer to reality''. He believed the Island would end up taking the latter course.

Mr. David Allen, Shadow Minister for Tourism and travel writer, offered an interesting set of statistics obtained through an opinion survey he conducted at the World Congress of the American Society of Travel Agents in Cairo, Egypt last month.

While the results found that Bermuda was still "generally well regarded in the travel trade'', Mr. Allen said 75 percent of the respondents found the Island to be "very expensive''. Not one agent considered Bermuda moderately or inexpensively priced.

However, the survey also showed that the travel agents were impressed with the quality of local hotels and service.

"We perhaps spend too much time beating up on ourselves,'' said Mr. Allen.

"Perhaps we should be spending more time patting the industry on the back instead of brow-beating it. We have much of which to be proud.'' Calling Bermuda's present image "staid, stuffy and dull'' during later discussion, Mr. Allen suggested aggressive promotion of the Island's more exciting attractions such as sport.

"The only thing missing from the (tourism) ads is a rocking chair,'' he declared.

Mr. Finkbeiner, former general manager of Elbow Beach Hotel and the Hamilton Princess, declared Bermuda's "golden age'' of tourism was over.

"We can't just blame the recession or the Gulf War,'' said Mr. Finkbeiner, who is founder of the Hospitality Resource Management consulting company. "We too must take some of the blame.'' When the question of automatic gratuities was brought up by a member of the audience, Mr. Finkbeiner agreed that the practice had contributed to a deterioration in service.

A good waiter would make more money without automatic gratuities he said, but guests were no longer encouraged to give more than 15 percent because gratuities had already been added.

Mr. Finkbeiner also insisted that Bermuda should "go back to calling them visitors -- not tourists''.

Mr. Dennis Tucker Mr. Horst Finkbeiner.