Tourism and international business need to join together to plan for the future of both industries, a top international business official said this week.

Bermuda International Business Association executive director Wendy Davis Johnson told Hamilton Lions Club that the economy had undergone "a paradigm shift'' with the decline of tourism and the growth of Bermuda's international business sector.

Ms Johnson said BIBA felt the answer "will be found in a collaborative planning process between tourism and international business''.

She said it was hard to believe that Bermudians were now debating the future of tourism in the context of an industry in crisis.

And she said it should not sit well that Bermuda's performance in the area -- once the gold standard by which others were judged -- was now perceived as second rate.

"Where statistics used to cite the majority percentage that tourism contributed to foreign exchange earnings and to the employment of Bermudians, those numbers now underscore the dynamic growth of international businesses in Bermuda,'' she said.

Ms Johnson acknowledged that international business could not function without a healthy tourism industry as travellers for both required the same facilities and services.

But she added that the approximately 100,000 visitors who came to the Island on business were also potential leisure visitors who should be targeted.

"More and more properties in Bermuda are beginning to recognise the potential represented by the business traveller but many haven't yet fully understood the needs and expectations of this type of visitor.'' She said that while steps were being taken in the right direction, "they are being taken in the absence of any kind of structure for planning, funding and implementation''.

Bermuda must develop a new strategy for the new century, she continued, which was why BIBA and the Tourism Ministry had forged a closer partnership.

"Discussions revealed where tourism and international business could work together in the short term,'' she said. "We are increasingly finding areas of agreement and common purpose.'' Now the two groups are working together to develop an interim strategic plan for next year for joint marketing initiatives.

And their senior levels are attempting to forge a more formal relationship between the two.

But machinery needed to be put in place to develop a plan with common objectives which aligns the efforts and strategies of tourism, international business and the entire community.

Bermuda must avoid "quick fixes'' like legalised gambling as it had to be careful not to imitate other destinations, she said.

"Distinguishing Bermuda from the competition will produce competitive advantage.'' Ms Johnson praised the Bank of Bermuda's introduction of the Monitor Group -- an agency which offers advice on tourism -- as "entirely appropriate''.

It offered an objective viewpoint and objectivity which could not always be found in Bermuda.

And if this initiative was backed by the whole community, she continued, then Bermuda would have "grabbed the brass ring'' and a clear vision for the Island would be developed -- "a sorely needed national strategy''.

Wendy Davis Johnson