The first annual Bermuda Charity Golfest will be launched in October of this year, Tourism and Transport Minister Ewart Brown announced on Friday.

Updating members of Parliament on his efforts during the Parliamentary recess, Dr. Brown identified the African American and the Chinese markets as being pursued by Tourism, and expanded on Tourism's efforts in Miami.

80 prominent African Americans from all over the United States are expected to attend the Bermuda Charity Golfest after learning of it during the East/West Golf Tournament in Scottsdale, Arizona earlier this month, he said.

Dr. Brown attended and played in the tournament as part of his pursuit of the newly-emerging wealthy African American market. "As I have intimated since assuming the role as Minister," he said in a Ministerial statement on Friday, "money the world over has become younger, more diverse, and yes, browner."

The African Diaspora Heritage Trail, which he discussed with African Tourism Ministers at a conference in Lusaka, Zambia, earlier this month, will also help attract that market as well as providing another angle to the new trend of cultural and event tourism which the Minister was hoping to target.

Several of the African Tourism Ministers will be coming to Bermuda in September 2005 to attend a conference planning the regeneration of the late Tourism Minister David Allen's vision of Heritage Trail.

Tourism's attempts to diversify the type of visitor coming to the Island and tap into new markets also led Dr. Brown to take advantage of attending the Caribbean/Chine Economic Summit in Jamaica at the beginning of February.

"With one billion inhabitants and an economy commensurate with that size, China is the fastest growing nation of influence in the world," he said.

"The Chinese government has encouraged its people to travel and in so doing will change the paradigm of world tourism by sheer numbers alone." At the conference, Dr. Brown expressed an interest in achieving approved destination status from the Chinese government and invited the Chinese Deputy Tourism Minister to visit Bermuda.

"My visit to Jamaica for this summit represents the planting of a seed which I am sure will enable Bermuda to reap benefits in due season."

The aggressive marketing strategy employed in Miami has resulted in "untold strength" in advance bookings for the direct Miami service to be launched this week, Dr. Brown said.

While visiting Miami during the Parliamentary break he met with Carnival Corporation representatives who have expressed renewed interest in Bermuda, he said.

"The global cruise product is such that any discussion with cruise partners is a healthy one and the market share that is the Carnival Corporation and its affiliated brands must be courted to ensure our continued viability in the cruise market.

"We can no longer afford to be so exclusive as to exclude ourselves from consideration." Dr. Brown's last stop on his whirlwind tour during the Parliamentary recess was in Atlanta, Georgia, where he spoke at the invitation of the George Minority Business Awards and Scholarship Luncheon.

The gathering of high-net worth African Americans presented "unique opportunities for group travel that swells the ranks of our hotels and contributes greatly to economic well-being of all those service providers within the infrastructure that is Bermuda," he said.

"It has been a tremendously busy recess period for me and I am confident that the seeds sown on these important visits overseas will bear fruit for the local economy and continue the buzz that exists around Bermuda tourism today," the Minister concluded.