Hoteliers are spitting mad at accusations made by the Tourism and Transport Minister that one of the primary reasons for declining occupancies and hotel bookings is the quality of the hotel product. The statement was made on Monday during the media announcement of the third quarter results ? an event attended by several hoteliers.

Dr. Ewart Brown said of the 58 licensed properties in Bermuda, 49 failed the annual hotel inspection and had to be issued provisional licences to operate during the peak season.

He added that the Department of Tourism had faced the ?dilemma of declining hotel standards for a number of years? and that in recent years, in a bid to maintain the bed stock, the Department opted to remove specific rooms from inventory as opposed to the entire property.

However, the Bermuda Tourism Department?s exit surveys for the third quarter, distributed after the event on Monday, reveal that 71 percent of visitors to the Island were satisfied with the quality of Bermuda?s commercial properties ? an increase of six points.

The survey also reveals that Bermuda continues to attract mainly repeat visitors ? 61 percent this quarter ? with up to 91 percent of these visitors having travelled to Bermuda by plane.

President of the Bermuda Hotel Association, Mike Winfield, yesterday said this was proof that visitors were in fact satisfied with the quality of hotels on the Island ? despite Dr. Brown?s comments to the contrary.

Mr. Winfield was furious, to say the least and yesterday pointed to the statistics, which he said suggested the product is actually doing quite well.

?Perhaps we all should be spending a little more time on the marketing of this island as we have been saying consistently for a long time,? Mr. Winfield said. Shadow Minister of Tourism Kim Swan yesterday concurred and said Dr. Brown?s broadside against hoteliers was nothing more than a ?transparent attempt to shift blame away from the failings of his Ministry on the struggling hotel industry?.

Sen. Swan said a lack of accountability has been the theme that has characterised successive PLP Governments. ?The Tourism Ministry has a $35 million budget and outspends its rivals by as much as three to five times...yet, the results have been dismal not only for this summer but for the past six years.?

Sen. Swan said Dr. Brown failed to take responsibility for his Ministry?s failed initiatives.

Referring to the Ettenberg report, Senator swan quoted: ?Bermuda is by far the least effective in the use of its marketing dollars to affect conversions. It cost Bermuda $73.30 per visitor versus other destinations in the teens?, adding that the Island?s tourism industry was feeling the real effects of poor business choices emanating from the Ministry of Tourism. ?Instead attending the ?Conde Naste? banquet and consolidating Bermuda?s position within the industry, the Minister of Tourism was spending tourism?s budget on the African Diaspora Trail,? he said. An initiative, he felt was better suited for the Ministry of Cultural Affairs.

?During the African Diaspora extravaganza, Tourism spent hundreds of dollars on an effort which appears to be catering more to a local audience,? he said and this money should rather be spent on gateway cities.

As for the plight of the declining hotel occupancy over the peak season, Senator Swan said Dr. Brown knew about this and instead of ?saving the remainder of the season?, he (Dr. Brown) simply shifted blame to the hotel industry. ?The President of the Hotel Association has accepted the role that hotels play and challenges they face but, when is the Minister prepared to take responsibility for a Government that is failing Bermuda?s Tourism industry; and acknowledge that Government can always raise money through taxation, whereas hotels can only reinvest when profitable. Therein lays the problem faced universally within the tourism industry,? he said.