Bermuda needs to do more to save the remainder of the tourism season following the destruction left behind in the wake of Hurricane Fabian.

Shadow Tourism Minister David Dodwell said two weeks had passed since the category three hurricane had savaged the Island and more could be done to encourage visitors to come, both this year and next.

He accused Tourism Minister Renee Webb of having a low profile since Bermuda took a beating a fortnight ago, and said Finance Minister Eugene Cox was wrong to say one of the mitigating factors about the hurricane was that the end of the tourism season was almost here.

"We have not heard very much from the Ministry of Tourism in terms of what is being done," said Mr. Dodwell.

"In my view, we should be doing everything we can now to say we are open for business. We need to be out there to fly the flag as much as possible.

"I would send a clear message to the community that we have to get the product back up and running. There has been little communication with the community.

"We need as many things as possible for tourists to do. There is still two-and-a-half months left of the season.

"We also have to think about attracting people to come during the winter, and the summer of next year. We can really reduce our losses and shortfalls if we get going now."

But yesterday, Ms Webb said she had been very visible since the hurricane and said the Tourism Ministry had been releasing information every day to the Bermuda Hotel Association about what was running and available, and also to the media.

However, she said immediately after the hurricane she was unable to leave St. George's due to the Causeway being damaged, and she said her role then was to visit various areas in the East End for Government to check on storm damage.

But since then, she said she had attended a meeting of the Bermuda Alliance for Tourism, had met with hoteliers, and had visited all of the major beaches.

"Government has been extremely pro-active," said Ms Webb.

"We send out information daily to the Bermuda Hotel Association and they send it out to all of the hotel members, so Mr. Dodwell should have been in receipt of it.

"The Island is very much open for business. If you look at the activities, there is still quite a lot that's open.

"I really don't understand what Mr. Dodwell is saying because people have been saying to us that this is the most they have ever been kept informed."

But Ms Webb said there was no doubt that Bermuda's tourism industry was going to suffer this year, purely because it had lost a third of its room capacity due to the damage caused to hotels.

She said the closure of both the Fairmont Southampton and Sonesta Beach Resort would have a major impact on numbers. "We can't re-coup," said the Minister.

"It would be impossible. We are down 1,000 rooms, so it's impossible. We have been up and down the country looking at every hotel. If we are not able to accommodate people, we will have to cancel them, so Bermuda will lose out.

"And, of course, the cruise ships didn't come for one week, and we still have three daily flights that don't come here.

"But I know all of the hotels want to get back on line as soon as possible, and the developers of the hotels that are closed are moving as fast as they can.

"It's been a constant - we have been juggling. We need to get the infrastructure in place."