Bermuda must do more to entertain its visitors if it is to seriously compete in the tourism industry, a senior cruise line expert has warned.

With fewer people flying due to fears raised from September 11 and the war in Iraq, a greater number of cruises are this year available to the Caribbean from the Northeast US coast, which are directly competing with the Island.

But Michael Ronan, associate vice president of destination development of Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity Cruises, said he will do his best to promote the Island and fill each of his cruise ships coming to Bermuda, but said in return the Island had to do its part.

He said greater entertainment, particularly in St. George's and Dockyard, was needed to keep passengers happy, along with better transport into Hamilton.

Whether it be stores staying open later, craft stalls and artists taking up regular spots in key locations, harbour-side bars and cafes being available, or more musical entertainment, Bermuda needed to address the situation.

Mr. Ronan said he visited the Island at the end and the start of the cruise ship season to discuss the past and predict the future, and said when he was in Bermuda last week he predicted that Bermuda would do well this summer.

Mr. Ronan said passengers wished to be ashore more in the evenings, but sometimes felt there was little for them to do, especially in the East and West Ends.

He said: "People want to be entertained, and very clearly people would enjoy being ashore. On the ships, people are only allowed to do a certain amount of entertaining.

"Hamilton is fine. We have Harbour Nights and people will get off the ship and window shop because its so illuminated, but St. George's and Dockyard is much more limited."

And Mr. Ronan said one of the things discussed last week was whether Bermuda had any larger venues where entertainment could be provided for large groups of people, while creating the right kind of ambience.

But he added: "We do get quite a few negative comments about Dockyard. The fast ferry did help, but we need to now consider the evenings. The ferries could run late."

Mr. Ronan said since Tourism Minister Renee Webb had taken over at the helm last autumn, communication and understanding had improved.

Last night, Ms Webb agreed wholeheartedly with Mr. Ronan on the entertainment issue, but said far from losing business this summer due to the greater competition, it had increased.

Last year, about 221,000 cruise ship passengers visited the Island, but this year it was estimated to be 225,000, as some vessels were now no longer travelling to Europe, due to the war, and were going to be visiting the Caribbean and Bermuda, instead.

Some 154 cruise liners visited the Island last year, but this year it was estimated to be 163, with some weekend cruises.

She said: "I think the entertainment we provide to tourists is woefully inadequate. We are working with the West End Development Corporation (Wedco) to see how they can improve the entertainment up there (at Dockyard), and also with the cruise ships themselves to see how they can contribute.

"We are trying to encourage people to take on entertainment. We have a lot of talented entertainers - we are not short of them, it's just a matter of matching them up with hotels and bars."

Ms Webb said she hoped a talent showcase could be held in the coming weeks in a bid to match entertainers and bars and nightclubs for the summer season.

Executive director of the Chamber of Commerce Diane Gordon said the three divisions of the chamber met with Mr. Ronan last week and she agreed that more entertainment was needed in Bermuda.

The chamber is behind Harbour Nights in Hamilton every Wednesday during the summer, and was in talks to provide additional things, although she would not go into detail.

She said: "The Chamber of Commerce initiated Harbour Nights and one of the reasons we did that was because there was a lack of entertainment.

"It's like this waterfall where everybody knows what needs to be done, but trying to get it all together is another thing.

"I think everybody has the ideas but a lot of it amounts to the dollars as far as the sponsorship is concerned.

"But the demand is definitely there."